When He Is Come - Media Sabda Org

WESLEYAN HERITAGE Library
WHEN HE IS COME
By
Joshua Stauffer
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord” Heb 12:14
Spreading Scriptural Holiness to the World
Wesleyan Heritage Publications
© 1998
Holiness Writers

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Pastor, Bible Teacher,
Author and Evangelist
With Introduction
by
William M. Smith,
Superintendent of Union Bible Seminary
Westfield, Indiana
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WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
BACK COVER TEXT
In this book Joshua Stauffer has rendered a good service, and one that is needed. Of the three
Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit has been the least recognized both by writers and
preachers.
The Holy Spirit is intimately associated with the human race in this age. While, as the bride of
Christ, the Church looks forward to the coming of the Bridegroom, it is the Spirit who is wooing and
preparing her for that position. For this reason it is profitable, if not imperative, for Christians to
know what the Scriptures reveal of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.
I am sure the reader of this book, when he has gone through its pages, will have received an
insight into the offices of the Holy Spirit that will endear the third Person of the Trinity to him in a
new and practical way.
William M. Smith,
Supt., Union Bible Seminary
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WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
INTRODUCTION
In this book Joshua Stauffer has rendered a good service, and one that is needed. Of the three
Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit has been the least recognized both by writers and
preachers.
The Holy Spirit is intimately associated with the human race in this age. While, as the bride of
Christ, the Church looks forward to the coming of the Bridegroom, it is the Spirit who is wooing and
preparing her for that position. For this reason it is profitable, if not imperative, for Christians to
know what the Scriptures reveal of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.
I am sure the reader of this book, when he has gone through its pages, will have received an
insight into the offices of the Holy Spirit that will endear the third Person of the Trinity to him in a
new and practical way.
William M. Smith,
Supt., Union Bible Seminary
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WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
CONTENTS
1
When He Is Come
2
The Expediency of Christ's Departure
3
The Personality of the Holy Spirit
4
The Character of the Holy Spirit
5
The Deity of the Holy Spirit
6
The Names of the Holy Spirit
7
Symbols of the Holy Spirit
8
The Relation of the Holy Spirit to Christ and to Christians
9
The Temples of the Holy Spirit
10
Filled with the Holy Spirit
11
The Importance of an Outpouring of the Spirit
12
The Guidance of the Holy Spirit
13
The Holy Spirit Is a Divine Gift

14
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
15
The Importance of Spiritual Gifts
16
The Work of the Holy Spirit in Believers
17
The Holy Spirit in Our Prayer Life
18
The Holy Spirit in the Minister's Life
19
Clean Uncommon Men
20
The Seven C's of the Holy Spirit
21
An Unction from the Holy One
22
The Holy Spirit as a Teacher
23
In the Spirit
24
Offenses Against the Holy Spirit
25
The Holy Spirit in the Age to Come
26
The Ascending Scale of the Spirit's Operations
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WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 1
WHEN HE IS COME
The Holy Spirit did not come into the world to dwell in believers until after Christ had died, been
resurrected, ascended, and was glorified. The connection between the promise and the coming of the
Holy Spirit to Christians was the death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of Christ. The first
period of the incarnation of Christ, the Head of the church, extended from His leaving the bosom of
the Father until He returned to the bosom of the Father, or from His birth as a Man to His
glorification. The second period of the incarnation of Christ, that is, the formation of His Body, the
church, extends from Pentecost (the day in which the Holy Spirit descended to become incorporated
in the church) to the Rapture, when the church will be completed and caught up to be united with
Christ the Head.
The Holy Spirit was of superlative value to Christ while He labored on earth, and He is of
superlative value to the church while she labors on earth. Even as the Holy Spirit dwelt in Christ and
made effective His ministry in Palestine, so He may now dwell in every Christian, which makes
possible a world-wide, Spirit-filled ministry. Before Christ left He arranged for another One, even
the Holy Spirit to come and take His place. He said, "I will not leave you comfortless," and "I will
pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." There
is great comfort and hope in these words for all Christians. The Comforter means, "The alongside
One," or "One called to be aside another." In the Greek and Roman courts of law it was the custom
for an accused person to be accompanied by influential friends. These were not paid, nor professional
advocates, but men who out of friendship came to stand by a friend in time of need to help him by
encouragement, suggestions, and if need be, to take his place. The visible and bodily presence of
Christ was a great comfort to the disciples. It brought sorrow to them when He spoke of leaving.
However, He promised to send them another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit in the believer
cheers, encourages, and helps him. He is not left alone, or comfortless. Christ said, "He shall abide
with you for ever." Abide means to dwell, to make His home with, and to remain. Many blessings
have resulted from the fulfillment of the words of Christ, "When He is come."
I. "When He Is Come" He Will Be Our Comforter
"I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.
1. will not leave you comfortless" (John 14:16-18).
The Holy Spirit is well qualified to take the place of Christ, for He possesses all the attributes of
Deity. His great ministry to believers is that of a Comforter, One Who is with and in believers
continually to help them at all times.

1. He comforts us when we do right. It is then that He places His approval on our lives, blesses
us, and gives us great joy, which is an encouragement to continue doing right.
2. He comforts us when we are persecuted, for He gives grace, and ability to endure hardships for
Christ's sake.
3. He comforts us when we are chastened. He never accuses us when we do wrong, or make
mistakes, but gently reproves us. He does not discourage, but seeks to lead us back into the right
path.
4. He comforts us when we are bereaved. The Spirit came to take the place of Christ and to do for
us what Christ would do for us if He were on earth. Christ comforted the sorrowing and the
bereaved. The Spirit enables us to look at life and the future from God's viewpoint which always
brings comfort to the heart.
5. He comforts when we humble ourselves. This makes promotion possible in our lives. We are
commanded to humble ourselves. When we humble ourselves God will not need to humble us, but
when we do not, He will.
6. The Spirit comforts us when we exalt Christ. It is one of the phases of His ministry to exalt
Christ, and when He can exalt Christ in our lives and labors, He is pleased and shares his joy with
us.
7. He comforts us when we are afflicted. He does this by revealing the Scriptures to us and by
revealing the coming glories, which help to lighten the sufferings and cares. It is our privilege to
commune with Him, and to depend on Him to comfort our hearts even as we would depend on Christ
if He were on earth. If Christ were with us, we would make all our needs known unto Him, and look
to Him for help and comfort. This is the privilege of every Christian, because the Holy Spirit has
been sent into the world to take the place of the absent Christ.
II. "When He Is Come" He Will Help Our Infirmities
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we
ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom.
8:26).
The Apostle Paul made it very clear in his writings that the Spirit helps our infirmities. Every
believer on earth is limited by infirmities, and that is one reason why every believer needs to be filled
with the Holy Spirit. The word "helpeth," means in the present time and in continuation, or all along.
It also means to take hold with one and help him to carry the load.
1. The Spirit helps us in our prayer infirmities. Prayer is one of the greatest ministries in the work
of the Lord. It is a great task to pray efficiently and fervently. The task is too great for the Christian
to perform by himself. He needs divine help in this ministry. Help is promised the Christian along
this line. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, the divine Teacher on earth, to help us in our prayer

infirmities. He is well qualified to do this. Prayer is more than the mere saying of words. Back of the
words there must be a holy desire, and before there can be a holy desire, there needs to be a sense
of the will of God. The Holy Spirit delights to teach us in our prayer lives, and help us to pray. He
knows what the will of God is, and He can overshadow and influence us with holy desires for the
very things that God wants to accomplish. These desires will give expression in inward longings and
groanings which cannot be uttered, or expressed in words, because the mind is too limited to keep
pace with the state of the heart, and the leadings of the Spirit. Every Christian should yield himself
to the Holy Spirit and depend on Him to help him in his prayer life.
2. He helps us in our believing infirmities. Here, also, the Christian needs great help so that his
faith may be strong in the Lord. The Spirit can bring the right promise to his remembrance, and make
the right application so that it will greatly increase his faith. The Spirit can so energize the heart of
the believer that with groanings and unexpressed longings he will be enabled to get such a grip on
God that it will move Him to grant the request.
3. The Spirit helps us in our preaching infirmities. The call to preach is a great calling. The one
who has been called is not qualified in himself to preach the gospel the way it deserves to be
preached. The Spirit will qualify the preacher to efficiently preach the gospel by revealing the
Scriptures to him, by stirring his heart, and by giving the unction essential for preaching.
4. The Holy Spirit helps us in enduring our infirmities. One great secret in winning the
overcomer's crown is endurance. Christ said, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved." The writer to the Hebrews admonishes us to run the race with patience, that is, endurance.
It is the object of Satan to discourage people and get them to give up and turn back. Whenever he
does, the Holy Spirit is always present and faithful to encourage the believer to be faithful, to endure,
pointing him to a better and brighter world where there will not be any temptations or sufferings.
5. The Holy Spirit helps us to make right decisions. Many Christians are beset with infirmities
when it comes to making right decisions. There often come times when we are not able to make the
best choice. It is our privilege to depend on the Holy Spirit to help us make the right choice, and it
is His pleasure to help us. The Holy Spirit helps us by leading us. He is a faithful Guide Who has
guided millions of saints through this earth and life. His leadings may be mysterious and not always
fully comprehended; nevertheless, He leads unerringly.
Stephen Grellet, the noted French Quaker, was in this country and felt a concern on his heart as
the leading of the Spirit to preach the gospel to the men in a lumber camp. When he arrived at the
camp he found it deserted because the men had gone farther into the forest; however, he felt that the
Spirit had led him there to preach, so he stood up in an empty dining hall and delivered his sermon.
It seemed to him that his sermon was heard only by the walls of the building and the trees in the
forest. Several years after this a stranger met him who said, "You are the man I have been looking
for all these years, and now I have found you at last."
Stephen Grellet said, "There must be some mistake. I have never seen you before."
"No," said the man, "but did you not preach in a lumber camp in the American forest?"

"Yes," said Grellet, "but there was no one there."
The man said, "I was there and heard the sermon." Then he related how he had come back from
where the men were working to get a saw they had left behind and was startled by hearing the sound
of a man's voice. He approached the building, looked through a chink in the logs, and saw Grellet
standing by himself preaching a sermon. He listened to the preaching and was convicted of sin.
Shortly after that he secured a copy of the Scriptures and learned the way of salvation and was saved.
The Spirit is well qualified to lead us far beyond our comprehension.
6. The Spirit helps us when we are accused by Satan. Satan has access to God and accuses the
saints before Him, and reminds God of all their sins of the past, their infirmities of the present, and
claims that they do not love Him. Then Satan comes to earth, goes to and fro, seeking God's choicest
saints, and afflicts them with trials, sufferings, and losses, then accuses God before them, and says
that the Lord does not love them, for if He did love them He would not allow those trials to come
to them. It is then that the Holy Spirit helps us, for He is the Comforter, the alongside One, Who
comforts us, and pleads our case.
III. "When He Is Come" He Will Show Us Things To Come
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come ... he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit fills the heart with hope and assurance. It is His work to show us things to come,
that is, He reveals the future to us. He makes the coming of Christ, the resurrection of the body, and
the coming of the New Jerusalem real and as present to us, even as if they were a reality now in our
lives. He can make heaven real and rich to us, even as if we were already there, so that we may revel
even now in the glories to come. Paul wrote, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit" (I Cor. 2:9, 10). We learn from the things which we see and
hear. The benefits which we derive from the things that we hear and see are only as they impress us,
move our feelings and sensibilities, and enlighten the mind. The Holy Spirit can enter through sealed
doors and tell us things without hearing an audible voice, and show us things which are not yet
visible to us, but which become just as real to us, and which inspire, enlighten, stir, move, and
rejoice our hearts vastly more than do the things which we see and hear.
IV. "When He Is Come" He Will Reveal Christ to Us
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come ... He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine,
and shall show it unto you" (John 16:13, 14).
The Holy Spirit is infinitely and intimately acquainted with Christ. He gave Him a birth in the
incarnation, and at Christ's baptism came to reside in Him, even until after the ascension when Christ
was glorified, and then was sent back into the world in the very nature of Christ. The Holy Spirit
magnifies Christ. We cannot know Christ as we should know Him until the Holy Spirit reveals Him
to us. One of the greatest desires of the Holy Spirit is to reveal Christ to us. One of the greatest joys
of the Christian is to know Christ, and to live in communion with Him. The Holy Spirit can take the

esurrected life of Christ and impart it to us, and take the virtues and graces of Christ and exemplify
them through us. Then He can give us such a vision of Christ and make Him so real to our hearts that
we will never cease to love Him. It is then that He will become the fairest of ten thousand to us, and
the Lover of our souls, so that we, like Paul, will press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus, and be faithful unto death.
V. "When He Is Come" He Will Capacitate the Believer
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now. Howbeit when he, the
Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:12, 13).
The disciples would have been very lonely, limited, and powerless, and at a loss to know what
to do without the coming of the Comforter. The coming of the Holy Spirit did not merely relieve
them of loneliness, but He did much more for them, even capacitating them for a greater ministry.
Man is very limited in himself. Christ said, "Without me ye can do nothing." There are many
vacancies, inabilities, limitations, and deficiencies in every unsanctified heart. Nevertheless, at the
same time, man has a great capacity for abilities, possibilities, and efficiencies. The capacity in man
is so great that it requires the Holy Spirit to fill that capacity. When we consider the negative
inabilities of the heart and mind, the positive hindrances of carnality, the good influences of purity,
the great possibilities of holiness, and the power of divine enduement, the heart is made to cry out,
"Come, Holy Spirit; take up Thy abode; cleanse my heart; endue my being; utilize every faculty;
develop every possibility, and make me a blessing." "When He is come," this is what He will do;
however, the heart, life, will, and time, must be yielded to Him. He must have a surrendered will,
and the full right-of-way, so that He may operate in an unhindered manner.
VI. "When He Is Come" He Will Abide for Ever
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever" (John 14:16).
The Holy Ghost was incorporated in the church at Pentecost. When He came, He came to "abide
for ever." Abide is a term which is rich in its meaning. According to the Greek usage it means, to be
with you, at your side, at home with you, in you, in your heart; to be present, to continue, to remain,
to dwell, to make His home with you. "For ever," is timeless present tense. It is comforting to know
that He is with us wherever we are, in all of our labors, every minute, hour, day, week, month, year,
our entire life, and "for ever" He will be with us in joy, in sorrow, in trials, when we are passing
through the tunnel, when all joy has fled, when all good feelings are gone, He is with us. When the
body of Christ, the church, will be completed, and the Spirit ascends, He will not leave it behind, but
in it ascend to present that body to the Head to be united with Him. His abiding will be "for ever"
which extends through the eternal ages.
VII. How To Treat Him "When He Is Come"
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev. 2:7).

The Holy Spirit is infinitely faithful to all men. He is to be given a welcome, then cherished when
He comes. He should be treated as the dearest Friend, and as a constant Companion. Every time we
read the Scriptures, we should depend on Him to interpret the Word to us. Each time we listen to a
sermon, or read a religious book, we ought to depend on Him to enlighten us. When we personally
deal with a soul, we should depend on Him to give us wisdom, power, and the right words, and to
give us the right Scripture to use; also, that He will deal with the other person in convicting, and
revealing the truth to him. Each time we preach, we should depend on the Spirit to bear witness to
the truth, and believe that He will enable us to skillfully deliver the gospel message. Every time we
enter into the secret closet to pray, let us depend on Him that He will inspire us, give us holy desires,
a divine fervency, and help us in our prayers. If ministers would depend more on Him and less on
their logic, oratory, rhetoric, enticing words, and their own ability, their ministry would be honored
by Him and made more fruitful.
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WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 2
THE EXPEDIENCY OF CHRIST'S DEPARTURE
Christ said to His followers, "It is expedient for you that I go away" (John 16:7). Expedient means
"for the best." Expedient means "for the best." The real meaning of this Scripture is: It is best for you
that I go away. The reason Christ gave for His departure was that the Comforter might come. The
coming of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from the departure of Christ. The descension of the
Holy Spirit must always be associated with the ascension of Christ. The disciples were loathe to
believe that Christ would depart, but He said, "I tell you the truth." The visible and bodily presence
of Christ meant much to the disciples. While He was on earth, He greatly endeared Himself unto
them. He called them to be His followers, He led them from place to place, and when they needed
to be taught, He took time to teach them lessons of spiritual truth, and when they were mistaken, He
reproved them. When the multitudes were hungry He fed them, and when the sick were brought to
Him, He healed them. His ministry had brought cheer and comfort to their hearts. It was no little
wonder that sorrow and disappointment filled their hearts when He said, "But now I go my way to
him that sent me." They felt that they would be comfortless in the world without Him, or as children
who had been bereaved of their parents' love and care. Christ told them He would not leave them
comfortless, or orphans, in the world to face their problems alone, but that He would send them
another Comforter. There is much implied in the words, "It is expedient for you." Not only was it
best for the disciples, but it also was best for Christ, the Holy Spirit, the world, and this age. Christ
always has done and will do that which is best for everybody.
I. The Superior Value of Christ's Death and Resurrection
Christ came into the world specifically to die. Other men come into the world to live. We are not
saved by His beautiful life, but by His vicarious death. The benefits of the death and resurrection of
Christ are vastly greater than we can realize. The comprehension of many people concerning Christ
does not go any further than that He died for them, so that when they die they may go to heaven. By
anticipation of the death of Christ in the fullness of time, probation was renewed to the human race
after the fall of Adam, making possible the offer of grace unto all. It secures all who come into the
world and die in an innocent state. Not one infant that has died in infancy has been lost and separated
from God, for all have been redeemed and received into heaven because the gift of eternal life is
given unto them without faith, repentance, or works, as the free gift of God. The death and
resurrection of Christ also make possible the forgiveness of sins, or regeneration; the cleansing from
inbred sin by the baptism with the Spirit; the gathering out of the church as the body of Christ; the
redemption of Israel as a nation; the resurrection and exaltation of all saints; the destruction of Satan,
and all of his followers, and it also will be the means of ushering in everlasting righteousness with
a new heaven and a new earth, where sin will never enter.

II. The Superior Value of Christ's Glorification
While Christ was on earth He subjected Himself to become a Servant, and as the second Person
of the Trinity, He became subordinate to the Holy Spirit, and humbling Himself, He became obedient
unto death. His glorification did not come till after He ascended and changed His position from earth
to heaven, and from that of a Servant, to be crowned as Lord over all. By reason of His great
humiliation, it was very proper that He should be honored, for He was very deserving of being
exalted. While He was on earth, He could be only at one place at a time; however, after He ascended,
His powers, virtues, and His graces could be diffused throughout the entire world in the Person of
the Holy Spirit Who came to take His place. The ascension gives us an exalted Christ and Redeemer.
The ascension made possible the glorification of Christ's Person, the glorification of His name, and
the glorification of His accomplishments. Christ was glorified by the Father in heaven after the
ascension, and He is being glorified on the earth by the Holy Spirit through Christians. It has been
more honorable for Christ to depart and be with the Father, to receive from Him an exalted position,
then in due time for Him to receive the kingdoms, which will be given to Him by the Father, than
for Him to have remained on the earth. In the fullness of time, He will return to take the kingdom
to Himself, and to set up His kingdom on the earth.
III. The Superior Value of the Holy Spirit's Presence
In His corporeal body, Christ on earth could be only in one place at a time. His bodily presence
appealed to the sight and senses of people. The presence of the Holy Spirit affects the heart and the
faith of people. The Spirit is not bound by fleshly trammels, but He can be in more than one
thousand places, even universally present and deal definitely and personally with millions of hearts
at the same time.
IV. The Superior Value for the Disciples
The disciples needed to be weaned from the visible to the spiritual, and not only to be drawn by
what they saw, but to be led by the Holy Spirit, Who would draw their hearts to the Lord. The
departure of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit enabled, encouraged, and emboldened the
disciples, imposing on them the necessity of walking by faith, and not by sight. The indwelling of
the Holy Spirit made them very bold so that they could boldly face persecution and opposition with
joy and courage. Then the departure of Christ enabled them to do a greater work, because after Christ
ascended, the Holy Spirit descended, and His descension endued them with power. The very same
Spirit that dwelt in Christ, later dwelt in them, enduing them to carry on the work Christ started.
They then could go in every direction to make Christ known, not only to the Jews, but to all people.
"The greater works" which Christ promised they would do does not refer to the miraculous
performance on human bodies, but through the preaching of the gospel make more converts than
Christ made.
V. The Superior Value for This Age
The ascension of Christ made possible His ministry of intercession at the Father's right hand, and
the presence of the Spirit in all Christian workers, which empowers and emboldens them to preach

the gospel to all people. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict sinners and to comfort believers.
The need of every sinner in this age is the influence of the Spirit upon his life, convicting him of sin.
The need of every believer in this world of conflict and trials is the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Christ
said, "When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin." The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin
through the ministry of Spirit-filled workers. From this we learn that this entire age has been greatly
benefited by the ascension of Christ after His death and resurrection, because it made possible the
coming of the Holy Spirit, Who operates not merely in one place, or in the midst of one group of
believers, but does a universal work by empowering every Christian worker, and by convicting the
world.
VI. The Superior Value for the Church
The church was in the mind and heart of God before the foundation of the world. It is the purpose
of God that the people for Christ's name shall be gathered out of all nations, tongues, and tribes. In
order to make possible the gathering out of the church, it was essential for Christ to ascend and the
Holy Spirit to descend. The Holy Spirit is the Friend of the Bridegroom, or "the Go-between" of the
Bridegroom and the bride. According to the Old Testament custom, the father planned the marriage
for his son. A trusted friend was secured to seek a damsel who would fit into the life, purpose, and
disposition of that father's son. Such a story is that of Genesis twenty-four, of Abraham, his son, his
trusted servant, and Rebekah. Such also is the gospel story. God the Father has planned a marriage
for His Son. The Holy Spirit has been sent into the world to secure a bride for Christ. This is a great
task, but He is well qualified for the task, and will accomplish exactly what He has been sent into
the world to do, which is to gather out a people for the name of Christ. The departure of Christ made
possible the coming of the Holy Spirit, Who now is selecting the bride for Christ.
VII. The Superior Value for Our Future Abode
While the Holy Spirit is in the world gathering out a people for the name of Christ, the heavenly
Bridegroom is in heaven preparing the place for the future abode of His bride. Christ said to His
followers, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John
14:1-3). No doubt, the place which Christ is preparing will be the New Jerusalem, the bridal city,
which will be the eternal home of Christ, and the bride.
Christ, as a loving Saviour, always seeks the best things for His followers. "It is expedient for
you," that is, not only the disciples, but it has been the best for all people throughout this age. Christ
deals with us not according to our wishes, or feelings, but He seeks our eternal good. We should seek
His highest glory, even though it brings sorrow to our hearts. The departure of Christ was beneficial
for us, honorable for Him and the Spirit, and is beneficial for the church, the world, and this age.
Christ was "the Comforter" to the disciples, and the Holy Spirit is the "another Comforter." Christ,
in heaven, is pleading our cause before the Father and the Holy Spirit, Who dwells within us, helps,
cheers, blesses, aids, and comforts the believers on earth. lie pleads our cause on earth. He will
perfectly perform His ministry on earth until Christ returns, then the church will be carried up by
Him and presented to Christ to be forever with her Lord.

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 3
THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
One of the most emphasized facts in the New Testament is that the Holy Spirit is always described
as a Person. This is an important and delightful doctrine. A right belief leads to soundness of faith,
which is of great importance in Christian experience. A right belief is essential to right conduct. It
is important for every Christian to perceive the personality of the Holy Spirit in order to attain to a
fuller and richer Christian experience, and a more aggressive, and successful ministry. It is our
privilege to know God as our Father, Christ as our Saviour, and the Holy Spirit as our Comforter.
We cannot possess a full and scriptural conception of the Triune God until we recognize the three
divine personalities.
I. Personal Pronouns Ascribed to the Holy Spirit
A personal pronoun is a word used instead of the name of a person. A person when speaking says
"I," thus "I" is the personal pronoun used by the speaker referring to himself. A person when spoken
to, is called "thou" or "you." "You" is the personal pronoun employed in place of the name of the
person spoken to. When spoken of, he is called "he," "his," or "him." "He" is the personal pronoun
used in place of the name of a person spoken of. Christ is the second Person of the Trinity, and He
as God and Man sustains a very close relationship to the Holy Spirit. Christ was intimately and
infinitely acquainted with the Holy Spirit. In the Deity of the Godhead, they were one throughout
eternity. Christ, as a Man, was anointed with the Holy Spirit before He began His ministry, and the
Holy Spirit dwelt in Him in all of His personality. He spoke with divine authority and divine
inspiration concerning the Holy Spirit. Christ always spoke of Him as a Person. In John 15:26, He
said, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit
of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." In John 16:7, 8, Christ said,
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come,
he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." Here again, He spoke of
Him as a Person. Then in John 16:13, 14, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will
guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear; that shall he
speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and
shall show it unto you." In this Scripture, Christ employed nine personal pronouns in speaking of the
Holy Spirit, and ascribed nine personal acts to Him. If we were to change the reading of these verses
and substitute the term "It" they would read as follows: Howbeit when It, the Spirit of truth, is come,
It will guide you into all truth: for It shall not speak of Itself; but whatsoever It shall hear, that shall
It speak: and It will show you things to come. It shall glorify Me: for It shall receive of Mine, and
shall show it unto you. Such a change would rob this Scripture of its value and preciousness, and
also the Holy Spirit of His personality, neither would it mean much to us. Christ said the Holy Spirit
would teach, guide, reprove, convict, comfort, and testify to men of Him.

II. Personal Characteristics Ascribed to the Holy Spirit
There are many characteristics ascribed to the Holy Spirit which can only be ascribed to a person.
The Holy Spirit as a divine Person possesses divine perfection, and is perfect in the manifestation
of all His characteristics.
1. Knowledge is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of
a man, save the spirit of man which is in him: even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God" (I Cor. 2:10, 11). His knowledge is infinite. He is omniscient even as God is
omniscient. He knows all about the Scriptures and He knows all about us; therefore, He is well
qualified to help us. He comes to enlighten the believer and to reveal the will of God to him.
2. Will is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will" (I Cor. 12:11). He wills to do what is right and just. He
loves righteousness and hates iniquity. Since He possesses a will and wills to dwell in us, empower,
lead, and teach us, we should recognize His will, and yield our wills to Him. If He were not a Person,
He could not employ our wills and intelligently lead us.
3. Mind is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom.
8:27). His mind is infinite. Mind includes the ideas of thought, of feelings, and of purpose.
4. Love is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's
sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me"
(Rom. 15:30). The Holy Spirit possesses the attribute of love and in this He is equal to the Father
and to the Son. When this fact dawns upon us we will come to appreciate His love as that of an
intelligent and loving Person.
5. Intelligence and greatness are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. "Thou gavest also thy good spirit to
instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their
thirst" (Neh. 9:20). As His name implies, He is holy and infinitely good. His intelligence is infinite
which makes a splendid accompaniment of greatness.
6. Grief is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30). From the fact that He has a will and loves, that gives
Him the capacity of grief. Because of His great love He may be easily grieved. He hates sin because
He is holy and is grieved with us when we lean toward the world or sin. From these Scriptures we
learn that He knows, wills, purposes, feels, loves, and grieves.
III. Personal Acts Ascribed Unto the Holy Spirit
Many acts that only a person can perform are ascribed to the Spirit. We read of Him,

1. He searcheth the deep things of God. "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for
the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10).
2. The Holy Spirit speaks. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God" (Rev. 2:7). The fact that the Holy Spirit speaks is revealed in each one of the seven
letters to the seven churches.
3. The Holy Spirit crieth out. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6).
4. The Spirit makes intercession. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26).
5. The Holy Spirit teaches all the truth. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).
6. The Spirit leads and directs men what to do. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).
7. The Spirit commands men. "Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of
Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to
Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts 16:6, 7). Each one
of these seven acts is a characteristic of personality.
IV. Personal Offices Held by the Holy Spirit
The offices held by the Holy Spirit can only be filled by a divine Person.
1. He holds the office of "another Comforter." Christ said, "And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:6).
2. He takes the place of the absent Saviour. Any personal influence or power could not do this.
Christ said, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7).
3. The Holy Spirit may also be considered as the holy policeman of the skies Who apprehends and
convicts the sinner with a view of leading him to repentance. We read, "And when he is come, he
will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8).
4. The Holy Spirit is the Friend of the heavenly Bridegroom Who is in the world to gather out a
bride for Christ.

V. Personal Treatments Predicated of the Holy Spirit
There are several treatments predicated of the Holy Spirit that can only be predicated of a person.
1. The Holy Spirit is rebelled against and grieved. "But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit:
therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them" (Isa. 63:10). An influence
or impersonal force cannot be rebelled against.
2. The Holy Spirit is treated with despite. "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he
be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the
covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of
grace?" (Heb. 10:29).
3. The Holy Spirit is lied to. "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to
the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?" (Acts 5:3). This also reveals very
clearly that He is a Person because an influence cannot be lied to.
4. The Holy Spirit is blasphemed against. "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be
forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him;
but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world,
neither in the world to come" (Matt. 12:31, 32).
5. Communion may be held with the Holy Spirit. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love
of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (II Cor. 13:14). It is the
privilege of every Christian to enjoy the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
VI. Personal Recognition To Be Given to the Holy Spirit
From the fact that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, we should give personal recognition to Him
and treat Him as a Person, even as we would our dearest friend. Honor should be given to Him
because of His great personality, His gifts, His virtues, and graces. We should acknowledge His
power and His works. Then we should believe in Him as a Person because He is faithful and true,
and is capable of taking us through this world and leading us on into heaven. Obedience and
allegiance should be cheerfully rendered to Him, and we should have an open ear and heart to hear
His faintest whisper, then with the greatest delight do as He bids us. He should be cherished as a
Person, and delight should be taken in Him as we do in a lover. We should strive to please Him in
all things. Then we should follow Him as a Person Who will lead us away from sin into holiness,
into a useful life, and into heaven itself. We should make Him the business manager of our lives and
submit to Him the lines of leadership. If we will, He will lead us through every trial, sorrow, and
valley triumphantly, and gloriously. When we do not treat Him as a Person, we are robbing Him of
His divine personality, of the love, submission, and adoration that are due Him. If we were to treat
a dear friend and benefactor as an "it," as an impersonal force, or as an influence, it would greatly
grieve him and we would forfeit his presence and benefits. Let us never grieve Him by failing to
recognize Him as a Person.

VII. Personal Benefits Derived from the Doctrine and Practice of the Personality of the Holy Spirit
It is of experiential and doctrinal value that we know the Holy Spirit as a Person. Any Christian
who does not know the Holy Spirit as a Person has not attained to a complete and well-rounded
experience. In order to attain a fuller conception of God, it is essential not only to know the Father
and the Son, as God, but also to know the Holy Spirit as God and a Person.
1. It leads to a self-emptying. There is too much of self about many people and that crowds the
Spirit out of their lives. When there is an emptying of self, that will make room for Him.
2. It leads to self-humiliation. It is the duty of every person to humble himself. The Bible says,
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" (I
Pet. 5:6). Self-humiliation leads to promotion by the Spirit.
3. It leads to a self-renunciation. The conception of many is: How can I get it and use it? This
thought falls far short of a Bible revelation of the Holy Spirit. The highest thought and attitude we
can take is: How can the Holy Spirit get me and use me? It is not our employment of Him, but His
employment of us that leads to a successful life. The difference between the two thoughts is Man
using the Spirit, or the Spirit using man. We want more of Him, but He wants more of us. It is not
enough to believe in the personality of the Holy Spirit as a doctrine, but we should practice this
doctrine. It is when we acknowledge Him as a Person and yield ourselves to Him to be His temples
that He will fill our lives with greater joy, and make us channels of blessing to others.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 4
THE CHARACTER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
People have more difficulty in believing and perceiving the personality of the Holy Spirit than in
believing and perceiving the personality of the Father and the Son. Christ came into the world and
became a Man. He was seen and heard. People have no difficulty in believing in the personality of
Christ. The Holy Spirit is invisible and is Spirit. He does not possess a body; therefore, people have
more difficulty in believing the personality of the Holy Spirit.
I. What the Holy Spirit Is Not
Very often people speak of Him as "It," or "the power," and think of Him as an impersonal force.
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, nor a mere influence. He is not an "It" or "the power,"
nor an emanation, neither is He a mere divine energy emanating from the Father and the Son. We
should never consider Him as a mere attribute coming from God.
II. Who the Holy Spirit Is
The Holy Spirit is a Person. Not only is He a Person, but He is a divine Person; yea, He is God.
He is Deity and possesses every attribute that the Father and the Son possess. He is equal with the
Father and the Son in essence and attributes, and differs only in His office and functions. The Holy
Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity.
There are many Scriptures, in which the three Persons of the Godhead are definitely revealed and
teach that each Person is on an equality with the other two Persons. Should we consider the
Scriptures in which the Godhead is revealed, and each Person's ministry made known, and consider
the Holy Spirit as a mere influence or energy, these Scriptures would lose their force, preciousness,
and reality. In the following Scripture, a clear distinction is drawn between "the name of the Father,"
and "of the Son," and "of the Holy Ghost": "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28:19). It does not say, in
the name of the Father; in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Ghost. The word "name"
does not occur three times, for that would infer distinction, disunion, and diversity of nature. There
is a oneness in the Godhead, but a distinction of Persons. If we consider the Father and the Son as
Persons, and the Holy Spirit as an impersonal energy, this text would be quite meaningless. The
same would be true in the apostolic benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love
of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all" (II Cor. 13:14). "The love of God"
comes from His Fatherly heart, and signifies His personality; "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ"
signifies the Lordship, humanity, and Deity of Christ, and that grace flows from His Person and acts;
"The communion of the Holy Ghost" signifies personality and personal operation. If the Spirit is just
a mere influence, there can be no communion. "Com" is a prefix from the Latin preposition "cum."

It signifies with, together, in conjunction. Communion is only possible between two or more persons.
Communion with the Holy Ghost is only possible on condition of His personality and His holiness.
III. What Constitutes Personality
Most people have a wrong conception of personality. Their conception of personality is bodily
form, bodily manifestation, visible, and material substance, or corporeity. Personality is more than
corporeity. Many think of the outward, the visible, and material when they think of personality. God
is a Spirit, and is invisible. Man wants to see God, but God refuses to be seen. Man's idea of
personality is form with a body, a head, arms and fingers, limbs and feet. Wax figures to resemble
men have been made which appeared so real and lifelike that intelligent people from a little distance
could not distinguish they were mere wax figures. Even though they looked like persons, yet they
were only figures, having shape or form. The elements of personality are not flesh, corporeity, or
physical features, but they are will, mind, knowledge, love, intelligence, and grief. The Holy Spirit
possesses these distinctive qualities.
IV. Why He Must Be a Person
In order for the Holy Spirit to fully compensate for the absence of Christ and fill His place, He
of necessity must be a Person. Only a Person Who is His equal can fill His place. A mere influence
or impersonal force could not come up to the level of Christ. The arrangement Christ made for His
going to the Father, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, would in no sense deprive His followers of
any of the association, help, teaching, comfort, and leadership which He gave them. In fact, it was
for the best of all concerned that Christ should ascend to be with the Father, and that the Holy Spirit
should descend to be with the believers on earth. This transaction vitally benefited Christ, all
believers, and the entire world. The Spirit as a Person and God was capable of taking the place left
vacant by Christ.
V. Characteristics of His Personality
The Comforter came to take the place of the absent Saviour, and of necessity must be just as
capable as Christ. He could not be inferior to Him, but He must be just as holy, just as loving, just
as powerful, just as intelligent, and just as patient and faithful to the disciples as Christ was to them.
The characteristics of the personality of the Comforter are equal to the characteristics of Christ. He
is infinitely holy, wise, powerful, intelligent, patient, and faithful.
VI. The Desire of the Holy Spirit for Us
God has made a perfect provision for our complete salvation and our most efficient usefulness.
The Holy Spirit is the Executive of the Godhead. The works of God in our lives are wrought by the
Person of the Spirit. The Spirit desires to do a perfect work in our lives in regard to our salvation and
usefulness. He will work to the fullest extent when we yield ourselves to Him. It is the desire of the
Spirit to convict, regenerate, sanctify, and glorify all who yield themselves to Him. It is also His
desire to lead us into a life of holy labors for the Lord. The privileges and possibilities of an humble
and obedient Christian are great. The Holy Spirit eagerly desires to do a great work through us. He

will do for each of us all we will let Him. It is not so much what we are intellectually, physically,
morally, or even spiritually, but what He does for us and through us that counts the most. His
willingness, His desires, and His capabilities are great. He is a great and gracious Person.
VII. Comforting Virtues of His Presence
The presence of Christ with His followers was a great joy and comfort to them. When Christ
informed them of His going, He comforted them by saying He would send them another Comforter.
Different scholars have given the term Comforter, or Paraclete the following meanings: an advocate,
teacher, patron, guardian, master, exhorter, another of like kind, a helper, a legal assistant, a guide,
a pleader, one who pleads another's cause, a defender, a mediator. As Christ stands between us and
the Father, so the Holy Spirit stands between us and Christ. The virtues of His presence are many.
As He was incarnate in Christ, so He became incarnate in the church. By virtue of His incarnation
in the church, the Spirit may be present all over the world, even with all believers.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 5
THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The term divinity has practically the same meaning as Deity; however, the term Deity is preferred
to that of divinity. The term divinity has lost much of its meaning and is employed by the modernists
who like to elaborate on the divinity of Christ, but deny His Deity. Divinity means the quality or
character of being Divine. Deity is a much stronger term and refers to the supreme Being. By
employing the term Deity, there should be no confusion in what is meant. The Holy Spirit is not only
a Person, He is a divine Person, He is God. There is a oneness of nature in the Trinity. God is one
God, a triune God, even three Persons, but not three Gods. The reason there are not three Gods is that
in the three distinct Persons of the Godhead there is only one essence. There is a perfect oneness in
nature, in essence, in character, and in attributes in the Trinity. The only difference is in their relation
to each other and in their offices, yet there is perfect harmony and unity in the Trinity. As the Son
of God is subject and subordinate to the Father, so the Holy Spirit is subject and subordinate to the
Son and the Father. The Holy Spirit is not different in rank and nature, nor inferior in essence and
attributes to the Son, or the Father, but He is subordinate in office. There is divine order in the
Trinity. This divine order makes divine fellowship possible. The Holy Spirit always acts in perfect
unity with the Father and the Son. He is Deity even as the Father and the Son are Deity.
I. Divine Attributes Possessed by the Holy Spirit
All of the attributes of the Holy Spirit are divine. All of His work is divine, and all of His
functions are divine because He is a divine Person. He possesses the same attributes as the Father
and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is eternal. He had no beginning. He is called the eternal Spirit. "How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14).
The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art
there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me" (Psalm 139:7-10). Of necessity, He must be
omnipresent in order to be with all believers, and to operate in all places at the same time.
He is omnipotent and possesses infinite power. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also
that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).

Then the Holy Spirit is omniscient. His knowledge is infinite. Christ said, He shall "teach you all
things" (John 14:26), and "he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). The divine attributes of the
Holy Spirit are a positive proof of His Deity.
II. Divine Names Possessed by the Holy Spirit
He is called the Holy Spirit because He is infinitely holy, which is an attribute of Deity. He is
called God in Acts 5:3, 4, and verily He is as much God as Christ and as the Father. He is called "the
Spirit of God," "the Spirit of the Lord," "the Spirit of Christ," "the eternal Spirit," "the Comforter,"
and "the Spirit of truth." All of these names imply Deity. The divine names of the Holy Spirit are
evidences of His Deity.
III. Divine Works Accomplished by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit works in unity and harmony with the Father and the Son of God. It is written that
He garnished the heavens. He was present in the creation and was One Who said, "Let us make man
in our image, after our likeness." He moved upon the earth when it was without form and void. It
was through His operations that cosmos came out of chaos, and beauty and arrangement out of
wreckage. In the Old Testament periods, He strove with sinners, and He empowered holy men to
write the Scriptures. He empowered the servants of the Lord, such as leaders, judges, prophets, and
kings. In relation to Christ and the incarnation, He produced His birth. The Spirit came in all of His
fullness and rested on Him in His anointing on the banks of Jordan. The Spirit led Him as a Man and
empowered Him as a Man for His ministry, enabling Him to perform miracles, to teach, and to speak
words of truth and life. In the resurrection, the Spirit quickened His body and brought Him forth
from the grave. In the ascension, it was the Spirit Who literally carried Him up and took Him back
into the bosom of His Father, from whence He was released to come into the world on the day of
Pentecost to baptize the believers, convict sinners, regenerate, sanctify, empower, call, then in due
time to catch up the saints to present them to the Lord. All of these works can only be accomplished
by a divine Person. These divine works prove His divine personality and His Deity.
IV. Divine Names Coupled with the Holy Spirit
The name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God in a manner which would be impossible
for any reverent and thoughtful person to couple the name of any finite being with that of Deity. In
Matt. 28:19, His name is coupled with the name of the Father and of the Son as being on an equality
with them. In I Cor. 12:4-6, we read of the operations of the Trinity, and the functions which are
ascribed to God, to the Lord, and to the Spirit, in which it says "the same God," "the same Lord," and
"the same Spirit." Here again we learn of His equality with the Father and with the Son, in II Cor.
13:14, we read of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the love of God, and of the communion
of the Holy Spirit. This again teaches His equality with the other two Persons of the Trinity. It would
be blasphemy to couple any man's name with the Father and the Son in the same relation and
function that the name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with them. The manner in which the name of
the Holy Spirit is coupled with the names of the Father and the Son is another proof of His Deity.

V. Divine Lordship Ascribed to the Holy Spirit
There are several references in the Old Testament which refer to the Lord and to Jehovah, which
are applied to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Two examples of these are: Isa. 6:8-10 speaks
of the operations of the Lord, but in Acts 28:25-27, it is positively stated that this was the Holy
Spirit. In Ex. 16:7, we read of the word and the works of the Lord, then in Hebrews 3:7-10, it is
positively stated that it was the Holy Ghost Who said those words of warning and admonition to the
people. This also is an evidence that He is the Lord; therefore, He is Deity.
VI. Divine Authorship of the Scriptures Ascribed to the Holy Spirit
One of the great ministries of the Holy Spirit was that of inspiring holy men to write the
Scriptures. He employed around forty men to write the Scriptures. The Scriptures were in process
of writing a period of some sixteen hundred years. The Holy Spirit came upon holy men and moved
them, that is, carried them along in their writing, giving them the thoughts, and the words to write.
Some of the prophets did not understand their own writings and desired to look into those things of
which they wrote. The inspiration conferred upon men to write the Scriptures evidently was the
highest degree of inspiration conferred upon men, and it ceased with the completion of the canon of
the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit inspires men today, but they do not possess that high degree of
inspiration. The Scriptures, as they were written, possessed perfection and infallibility. No men today
should place their sayings and writings on a par with the Scriptures. In the operation of the Holy
Spirit giving inspiration, revelations, thoughts, and words to men, we again learn that He is God and
Deity.
VII. Divine Life Imparted by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is symbolized by wind and is spoken of as the breath of God. When we read that
God breathed into Adam "the breath of life" and man became a living soul, that was the operation
of the Spirit. In the incarnation of Christ, we learn that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, which
was a mystery, and also a miracle. It is the Holy Spirit Who produces the new birth and imparts
divine life to the believer in his regeneration. Life is a mystery. It is the greatest mystery of scientists
and the laboratory. The scientists say that, of necessity, life never had a beginning and could not have
had any beginning, it must be eternal. That is exactly what is taught in the Scriptures and what we
believe God in three Persons is, Who never had a beginning, Who is the Author and the great
Sustainer of life. Not only is He self-existent, but it is He Who imparted life to man and the animals.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to impart life. This is a divine work and can only be accomplished
by One Who is divine , eternal, and self-existing, Who is Deity.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 6
THE NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There is much in a name. Name is indicative of nature, character, office, and person. One of the
characteristics of God is abundance. A single name could not possibly reveal the great character of
God. In the Bible there are many names assigned to Deity which refer to God the Father. There are
also many names given which refer to Christ in His twofold nature -- His Deity and humanity. The
character, office, and ministry of Christ are so vast that it requires a multiplicity of names to reveal
Him. The character and offices of the Holy Spirit are varied, therefore many names are essential to
give us a revelation of His Person and operations. Each name of the Spirit has a special significance.
It is our privilege to know the Holy Spirit in some degree in some of the various relationships
expressed by His names.
"The Spirit"
"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God" (I Cor. 2:10).
The word "Spirit" is the most common term applied to the third Person of the Trinity. The Hebrew
and Greek words translated "Spirit" signify wind, breath, and the invisible power which moves. The
term "Spirit" in absolute use refers to His Person. The qualifying terms added to the term "Spirit"
reveal His characteristics, His operations, and His relation to other persons. The name "Spirit"
denotes His being, or His substance, as being purely spirit, invisible, and immaterial.
"The Spirit of God"
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (I Cor.
3:16).
God the Father is purely a Spirit. Before the incarnation of Christ, He, too, was purely a Spirit.
The third Person of the God-head is a Spirit. The name "Spirit of God" does not refer to His being
the Father, Who also is a Spirit, but as coming from God, as being one with God and as being God.
It refers to His nature and attributes as being divine, and that He eternally proceeds from the Father.
"The Spirit of Christ"
"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9).
This does not refer to the second Person of the Godhead, but to the third Person. He is designated
as the Spirit of Christ because of His relation to the second Person regarding both His Deity and His
humanity. He, in a very intimate manner, was closely associated with Christ in His incarnation, in

His anointing, in His ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification. The Holy Spirit
presided over every phase in the earthly ministry of Christ. He sustained Him in a very precious and
gracious manner, and in a very peculiar sense He is called "The Spirit of Christ." He came to take
the place of Christ. He imparts the virtues and qualities of Christ to the believer. He has been sent
by Christ, in the name (or nature) of Christ, to supplement His works which He started in Christ, and
will consummate them in the Christians.
"The Spirit of His Son"
"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father" (Gal. 4:6).
The third Person of the Godhead was the operating Agent in producing the incarnation of the Son
of God. He was born of the flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit. He must be born in us in the new
birth in order to make us sons of God. He Who gave Christ a physical birth must give us a spiritual
birth in order to make us sons of God.
"The Holy Spirit"
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13).
The term "Holy Spirit" refers only to the third Person of the Trinity and is never applied to the
Father or to the Son. This name reveals His moral character. There is the same character in Him as
there is in the Father and in the Son. God is designated as Holy Father, and Christ in the Old
Testament as the Holy One of Israel, and in the New Testament, as the Holy One of God. The Holy
Spirit wills to be holy. He is holy, absolutely holy. He imparts holiness to others and makes holy all
He indwells. We should pray to be like Him in nature.
"The Eternal Spirit"
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14).
This teaches His eternal existence. One of His attributes is eternity. In Him there is equality with
the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, and had no beginning.
"The Spirit of Burning"
"When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged
the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning"
(Isa. 4:4).

"Judgment" here refers to conviction of sins, and "burning" to consuming, removing, and
destroying of sins. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce conviction and to apply the work of
redemption in producing the new birth, at which time sins are consumed and removed.
"The Spirit of Holiness"
"And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead" (Rom. 1:4).
Here the holiness of the Spirit is emphasized. He dwelt in the holy One of God when He was on
earth, and He approves all that is holy. He approved the holiness of Christ by raising Him from the
dead.
"The Spirit of Promise"
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever" (John 14:16).
"And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me" (Acts 1:4).
"Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father, the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear" (Acts 2:33).
"In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:13).
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of promise. He has been promised by the Father, and by the Son, and
He, as the Spirit of promise came as was promised. He is the Spirit of promise in a twofold manner.
First, He was given in fulfillment of the promise of the Father and the Son. And secondly, unto those
who receive Him He as the Spirit of promise becomes the earnest of a promise which is yet
unfulfilled. He could not be given as the Spirit of promise until after Christ was glorified, for He
must be given by Christ as well as by the Father. During the incarnation and humiliation of Christ,
the Second Person of the Trinity subordinated Himself to the Spirit; therefore, during this period He
could not give the Spirit. After the exaltation of Christ, when He entered into His glory and exalted
position, the Spirit again became subordinate to Christ Who sent Him to become incarnated in the
church.
"The Spirit of Truth"
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me" (John 15:26).
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. It is He Who bears witness to the truth because He is the
Spirit of truth. He is truth and His essence is truth. It is His work to communicate truth, then to put
His seal upon the truth.
"The Spirit of Grace"
"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under
foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an
unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:29).
As the Spirit of grace, He has been graciously given to men through the grace of God. He is
gracious and full of grace. It is His work to administer the grace of God to men. He makes the grace
of God ours through faith.
"The Comforter"
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things" (John 14:26).
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me" (John 15:26).
The Holy Spirit is all and more than this name implies. The term "Comforter" branches into many
shades of meaning. "Comforter," says Dr. George B. Stevens, is formed from the Latin "con" and
"fortis," "confortare" and means, "one who strengthens." "Comforter" is a translation of the word
"parakletos" in the writings of John. The word literally means, "called to one's side" to help. The
Spirit is a Helper. The different shades of meaning which have been given to the term "Comforter"
are: a legal advocate, an intercessor, a helper generally, an attorney.
"The Spirit of Glory"
"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth
upon you" (I Peter 4:14).
The Spirit is glorious and full of glory. He is given to comfort, to fortify, and sustain believers in
time of trial. He can take all believers through all trials and bring them forth gloriously. When they
endure and overcome, He is glorified. The Spirit administers glory. He will impart glory to the saints
in due time, even as He now administers grace to people. Those who accept the grace He now
imparts will qualify for the reception of glory, for grace will reach its culmination in glory some day.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 7
SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Evidently before their fall, Adam and Eve were privileged to see the Lord in some form. Adam
dreaded to see God after the fall. Since then men have desired to see God; therefore, they have been
making gods which may be seen. God refuses to be seen. No person has seen God at any time. God
does not have a body such as man; He is a Spirit. Man could not look upon the face of God and live.
The holiness and glory of God are so great that man could not survive to behold it. In his natural state
it would be more than he could endure and would kill him instantly to see God. The Holy Spirit has
not been seen; He also refuses to be seen. There have been visible manifestations of God and also
of the Spirit. God has been manifest in symbols. A symbol is a visible sign of an idea, a quality, an
object, or anything that suggests an idea of a thing. The Holy Spirit is always symbolized by action
and energy. From the following symbols we may obtain ideas of the Person, the character, and the
work of the Holy Spirit.
I. A Dove
A dove is frequently employed in the Scriptures as an emblem of the Holy Spirit. When we study
the qualities of a dove, we get a faint idea of what the Holy Spirit is like. The qualities of a dove are
those of love, purity, peace, gentleness, quietness, innocence, and tenderness. It is claimed that doves
are true to their mates for life, and when one dies the other one mourns until it dies. The Holy Spirit
has been called "the heavenly Dove" because He is somewhat like a dove in His character. The Spirit
is very loving and pure. He loves cleanliness, purity, and peace. He is very tender and gentle. He
works in quietness and produces gentleness. The fruit which He produces in the believer is: "Love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." The term "God" in
Hebrew is "Elohim." This is the plural term for God, implying three Persons. In the Hebrew
language, words take on their plural form by adding "im." "El" is singular and "elohim" plural. The
term "God" is used in the first sentence of the Bible. The first direct mention of the Spirit is in Gen.
1:2, where He, like a dove, brooded over the wreckage and chaos of the earth, and brought order and
beauty out of the chaos. The dove is mentioned again after the flood, and a little while before the
release of the occupants of the ark. First, Noah released a raven, which was a blackwinged messenger
and an unclean bird. It simply went to and fro, which is a symbol of Satan, who goes to and fro in
the earth. His object is not peace, but strife and sin. Noah released a dove which returned
immediately because she found no resting place for the sole of her foot. This may symbolize the
sending forth of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times, Who merely came on people for service;
then when that service was performed, He departed, and those whom He had moved then were but
common. After seven days Noah again sent forth the dove. In the evening she returned with an olive
leaf in her mouth which she had plucked. The olive leaf has been used as an emblem of peace. When
Noah saw the olive leaf, he knew the waters were abated from the earth, and vegetation was thriving
again. This in some respects may symbolize the Holy Spirit coming into the world and bringing
Christ with Him at the incarnation, Who later returned to reside in Him and enable Him to finish His

work as a Man, then took Him back into the presence of God the Father. Christ was the first begotten
Son of God, and His arrival as a Man in heaven was the symbol of many sons of God, who will be
received into glory. Noah, again, after seven more days released the dove which did not return unto
him again. The dove found a resting place for the sole of her foot and also a nesting place. This may
symbolize the coming of the Holy Spirit into this world on the day of Pentecost, at which time He
found a resting and abiding place in the hearts of all believers.
At the baptism of Christ by John, God the Father anointed Christ with the Holy Ghost. What
happened was, the heavens opened and the Spirit in all of His gifts, graces, and power came to reside
in Him for His earthly ministry. John said, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and
it abode upon him." The Holy Spirit could come upon Him like a dove because Christ was holy,
innocent, and gentle. Let us become a resting place for Him that He may abide with us.
II. A Cloud
A cloud brings rain, refreshings, and revivings. Without rain, vegetation could not thrive, for the
earth would become barren and a desert. A cloud is employed in the Scriptures again and again as
a symbol of the divine Person, or the divine presence of Deity. It was a cloud that hovered over Israel
all day long as a large umbrella, and at night, as a pillar of fire or as a large electric light system. This
was a visible manifestation of the divine presence of God. If they ever were tempted that the Lord
was not with them, all they had to do was to look up, whether it was day or night, for the pillar of
cloud and the pillar of fire always hovered over them. In the most holy place of the tabernacle, the
ark was enshrouded with the holy cloud, even the Shekinah glory. On the Mount of Transfiguration,
a cloud overshadowed Christ, Moses, and Elijah. When Christ ascended, we read that a cloud
received Him out of sight. When He comes again, it is stated that He will come with clouds. These
were not clouds of smoke, or of vapor, but a visible manifestation of the divine presence. The Holy
Spirit is symbolized by a cloud. Let us allow Him to hover over us and fall on us.
III. Oil
Oil is another great symbol of the Holy Spirit. Oil is a fatty, flammable, unctuous liquid. It is
insoluble in water. Oil was employed in many different manners. It was employed for anointings,
to initiate people into office, for healings, as a medicine, as a food, and for the illumination given
by lamps. It served as a lubricant which relieved friction. Oil also was employed to still the troubled
waters. The holy anointing oil was very highly perfumed. Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed
for their offices. Oil stands for consecration, which means that those anointed were given to God for
His service. Then it stands for purity and made holy that which it touched. Oil also stands for
recognition, and all anointed ones had to be recognized by all as God's appointed ones. It also stands
for power and separation. To those on whom the oil was poured, it symbolized that they were
separated from sin, from the world, from other people, even good people, to be God's own chosen
ones. Oil also speaks of joy and comfort. In a banquet in the East, the host anointed the guests for
feasting, which gave smoothness to their heads, and fragrance to the sense of smell. All this
symbolizes the Holy Spirit in His operation and different offices. In the anointing of the priests, they
first were washed, then received an application of blood before they received the application of oil.
Only on the high priest did the anointing with oil precede the application of the blood. This gives us

the beautiful type of Christ our great High Priest, Who was anointed with the Holy Spirit before He
shed His blood on Calvary. This teaches us the great doctrinal truths that Christ must shed His blood
before we can receive the Holy Ghost, and that we need the application of the blood, that is, become
regenerated, before we receive the application of the oil, that is, the baptism with the Spirit. No
machine can run without oil. If there were no oil, the progress of the earth would be very slow. It is
oil which relieves friction and allows the machinery to run smoothly.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit will give us unction, the proper initiations, the divine and human
recognitions, illumination, still our troubled waters, give us a heavenly fragrance, purity, separation,
holiness and power. We are the machine and He is the oil. Let us yield ourselves to Him and allow
Him to be the holy oil to do and be all this and more to us.
IV. Wind
Wind is invisible; it cannot be seen. Wind may be heard and felt and the manifestation of it may
be seen. It is powerful. Wind is refreshing, reviving, and independent. No person can traffic with the
wind. People may traffic with fire, water, and oil; but wind is independent. No man can control it,
keep it, buy it, or sell it. It goes everywhere. This is like the Holy Spirit. He is invisible and cannot
be seen. He is independent. No person, or church, can monopolize the Holy Spirit. He is reviving
and refreshing like the wind, and may be felt, and His manifestations seen, but He is invisible. The
Greek word for wind is "pneuma" which also is the word for spirit. Christ said, "Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit [wind], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The water and the
wind symbolize the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, which are the two agents employed in the
production of the new birth. One of the manifestations of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day
of Pentecost was wind. Ezekiel saw a valley which was full of bones. There were very many and they
were very dry. When he was asked whether these bones could live, he answered, "O Lord God, thou
knowest." He was commanded to prophesy unto those bones and as he did so, there was a noise and
a shaking and the bones came together, bone to his bone, but there was no life in them. Again he was
commanded to prophesy, this time unto the wind, saying, "Come from the four winds, 0 breath, and
breathe upon these slain, that they may live." As he prophesied, breath came into them and they
lived. Spiritual life can only come through the operation of the Spirit.
In the Song of Solomon, which is a divine love song and a dialogue between the bride and the
bridegroom, the groom expressed unto the bride what she was to him. He said to her, "A garden
inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of
pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, spikenard and saffron; calamus and
cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices; a fountain of
gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon" (Song of Solomon 4:12-15). Then the
bride responds to the love and admiration of the groom by praying: "Awake, 0 north wind, and come,
thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into
his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits" (S. of S. 4:16). This is very significant and typical of the
church and the heavenly Bridegroom. The church means much to Christ and He should mean much
to the church. He recognizes and appreciates all the gifts, virtues, graces, and fruits of the church His
bride. Oh, that we like the bride might pray, "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south." The
north wind is cool and refreshing and the south wind is warm and reviving. The two winds blowing

from opposite directions, one being cool and the other warm, when converging form a whirlwind,
which draws upward. The wind here symbolizes the Holy Spirit in His energizing and operating
performance. His work is heavenward and the current of His operations draws heavenward. Then
like the bride, may we pray, "blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." She
desired that her bridegroom might get the fragrance of the fruits and flowers of her garden, which
would revive, inspire, and please him. Even so, we should desire the Holy Spirit to take the fruits
and fragrances of our lives and waft them heavenward that our heavenly Bridegroom might smell
of them, be pleased, and receive them. Then she also prayed, "Let my beloved come into his garden,
and eat his pleasant fruits," even so, should we desire and pray for the coming of our heavenly
Bridegroom into the garden of our hearts, to partake of the pleasant fruits and be satisfied. Such
should be the operations of the Holy Spirit upon our lives, and as the divine Wind, carry the
fragrance of our lives unto Christ, which will inspire His coming to us.
V. Water
Water is a mystery. It also symbolizes the Spirit, which gives us an idea of the character of the
Holy Spirit. Water is refreshing, reviving, and satisfying. Salvation is likened to water, and the
drinking of it to the receiving and partaking of salvation. In the Old Testament, salvation is likened
to taking a cup and the drinking of water. In the New Testament, salvation is likened unto a well of
living water. Christ illustrated salvation thus to the woman at Jacob's well, saying that the water that
He would give to drink should be a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Then later on,
Christ likened the coming of the Holy Spirit into our hearts to rivers of living water, and that the
indwelling Spirit would flow through us as rivers of living water. The Holy Spirit is the water and
we are the channels. We should freely offer ourselves to Him as channels through which He may
flow to bring refreshings to us and others.
VI. Fire
Fire is a cleansing element. It is illuminating, searching, and purifying. Such is the work of the
Holy Spirit. John, the baptizer, said that Christ would baptize people with the Holy Ghost and with
fire. On the day of Pentecost, at the outpouring of the Spirit there appeared unto the one hundred and
twenty, cloven tongues like as of fire, and sat on each of them. In the Old Testament, the sacrifices
were consumed by fire. Only that which is consumed, empowered, energized, and inspired by the
Holy Spirit will be accepted in the sight of God. The fire on the brazen altar was given by the Lord
Who started it for the priests, but it was up to the priests to never allow it to go out. It was up to them
to replenish the fuel and carry out the ashes. The way to keep a fire from going out is to provide fuel
for it and see that the ashes are removed. So it is in our lives. The fire of the Holy Spirit falls upon
the altar of our hearts, but it is up to us to see that it never becomes extinguished, and, like the
priests, whether by day, or by night, see that plenty of fuel is added to the fire. This is done by
praying in the night and in the day, by studying the Bible, and by testimony. If this is done the fire
will never become extinguished. Let us be the altar and allow Him ever to burn in our hearts.

VII. Wine
Wine also symbolizes the Holy Spirit. It is a product of the fruit of the vine. In Bible times, it was
used as a medicine, a cleanser, and a food. It stimulates and strengthens and was a symbol of joy.
Such is the work of the Spirit. He stimulates, strengthens, and gives heavenly joy. We are
commanded not to be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the wine of
the kingdom and the wine which comes from above. Let us partake of Him and be energized and
strengthened by Him.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 8
THE RELATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO CHRIST AND TO CHRISTIANS
There exists a divine and an eternal relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Son of God.
Christ and the Holy Spirit also bear a close relationship to the sons of God. In the human family,
relationship exists by those of near kin, by marriage, by birth, and by adoption. Since the fall of man,
there can be relation between the Trinity and man only through the new birth.
I. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Incarnation of Christ
There exists a close and sacred relation between the Holy Spirit and Christ as the Son of Man -even
in His humanity. Christ is the Son of God, and believers are sons of God. He is the Son of God
by virtue of His relation to the Father and by virtue of His Deity. We become sons of God because
Christ, the Son of God, became also the Son of Man. He died as the holy Seed which makes it
possible for a new race of sons of God to spring forth. The Son of God became the Son of Man by
the operations of the Spirit in giving Christ a physical birth. Even so, the Holy Spirit can take a
sinner, a son of fallen man, and give him a new birth which will make him a son of God. God
became Man, yet He did not cease to be God, and men can never become Gods. Though they may
be converted, they will always remain men. As Christ received a human body and physical life
through the virgin birth, which was produced by the Spirit, and which made Him the Son of Man;
so the Spirit can produce a new birth in the sinner, give him a new heart, make him a new creature,
and impart divine life, so that it will make him a son of God. In the virgin birth of Christ, a body was
prepared by the Spirit for His Deity to dwell in, which made Him a new Creature and in which He
could die; so in the new birth of a sinner, the Spirit gives a new spirit and divine life, which makes
him a new creature, and enables him to live.
The Holy Spirit sustains a dear and near relationship to the sons of God, because they have been
born again of the Son of God to Whom the Spirit maintained such a precious relationship. The new
birth brings every born again one into the family of God as a son of God, and God becomes his
heavenly Father, and that makes him also related to the Holy Spirit.
Christ is the Saviour of and Substitute for sinners, and the great Pattern and Exemplar of
believers. The various operations and relationships of the Holy Spirit to Christ as a Man, from His
birth to His ascension and glorification, make possible the manifold relations of the Spirit to the
believer. Christ is not only the Mediator between the Father and man, but also the means for the
communication and operations of the Spirit with man. If the truth of this paragraph will dawn upon
and enlighten us, it will give us a rich and deep appreciation for the Father, Christ, the Holy Spirit,
and Christian experience.
Christ as a Man had a beginning. As God, He was; as Man, He became. As Man, He was born of
the Spirit (Matt. 1:19-21; Luke 1:35). In the incarnation, the third Person of the Trinity took the

second Person of the Trinity out of the bosom of the first Person of the Trinity and brought Him into
this world. He entered mysteriously through sealed doors and the Holy Spirit placed Him in the
womb of the virtuous virgin Mary. This was as virtuous an act as is the new birth. The Holy Spirit
could do this as well as He in the new birth can take Christ and in some mysterious manner enthrone
Him in our hearts. In Luke 1:15, Gabriel foretold that John would be filled with the Holy Ghost
before his birth. In verse 41, we learn that when Mary, the prospective mother of Jesus, and
Elisabeth, the prospective mother of John the Baptist met, the Holy Ghost filled John in a prenatal
state and that he leaped for joy. In this instance the Spirit Who filled Elisabeth, entered through
sealed doors to fill the unborn child also. If the Spirit can take a sinner who is a child of the devil,
and dead in trespasses and sins, and make a son of God out of him, with eternal life abiding in him,
certainly He took the eternal Son of God Who did not have any beginning and made Him the Son
of Man, that is, gave Him a physical birth and a human body in which He could live on earth and die.
There never was another birth like the birth of Christ. He was born by the Spirit. His birth was
a new creation (John 3:6, 8; II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24). Jesus, as a Man, was begotten in generation by
the Holy Spirit, so that man could be begotten in regeneration by the same Holy Spirit. There was
no sin (carnal or fallen nature) born in Him, for He was not conceived in sin, nor of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, even as everyone born again is not born of
blood, of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. He was the new Man and a holy
creation (I John 3:9; 5:18).
In the incarnation, the Spirit wrought a miracle and a new creation, even a sinless body to enable
Christ to dwell in human garb. The Holy Spirit constructed a human tabernacle for the second Person
of the Trinity in which He was to dwell, live, labor, suffer, die, be buried, resurrected, ascend, and
be glorified; then in heaven represent the saints and intercede for them. He as the last Adam will
come again in His glorified human body to dethrone Satan, set up the kingdom and rule. How
precious and glorious is this thought!
II. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Anointing of Christ
After the incarnation, the Spirit ascended and for thirty years the second Person of the Trinity
(Christ) resided on earth while the Father and the Spirit resided in heaven. Though Christ was born
of the Spirit, He was not indwelt by the Spirit prior to His baptism.
Christ was a perfect Man, was obedient, and remained at home until He was thirty years of age,
at which time He became )f age, according to Jewish custom. It was then that He left His home at
Nazareth to begin His life's work. In order to accomplish redemption and become the Saviour and
Substitute for all men, He must be qualified to do this as a Man. The only weapons and power which
He could employ were those eligible to any man. These were the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures.
Christ must overcome man's enemy as a Man, and He could only employ man's weapons in doing
this. It was typified and prophesied that Christ would be anointed by the Spirit. The anointing of
Aaron, the high priest, before he as initiated into the ministry, and also before he received the
application of the blood was highly typical of the anointing of Christ with the Holy Spirit before He
began His life's work and that before He shed His blood. It is not stated how much oil was poured
upon Aaron by Moses. Moses was a type of God the Father; Aaron, the high priest, was a type of

Christ, the Great High Priest. The oil was a rich and beautiful type of the Holy Spirit. We read, "And
he [Moses] poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head" (Lev. 8:12). Also, "It is like the precious
ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the
skirts of his garments" (Psalm 133:2). Moses dressed Aaron in the garments of beauty and holiness.
They stood in the entrance of the court of the tabernacle, with all Israel witnessing this important
event. Moses took the precious anointing oil, which was highly perfumed, and without stating the
amount (which makes it all the more interesting), poured it upon the head of Aaron. Oil runs where
it is not sought. The fragrance may have been inhaled by all Israel as it was borne from the person
of Aaron by the breeze. The oil dripped from Aaron's brow, ears, beard, finger tips, and feet.
Wherever he went there were drippings of oil which left a fragrance. Now, Aaron was ready to begin
his priestly ministry.
One of the most beautiful and inspiring New Testament scenes and events was the anointing of
Christ with the Holy Spirit by the Father. John the Baptist had baptized Christ in Jordan, and when
Christ came out of the water, we read, "And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:16, 17). This event is recorded by the
four Gospel writers in Matt. 3:16, 17; Mk. 1:10; Luke 3:22, and John 1:32. The Spirit "descended"
and "lighted" upon Him (Matt. 3:16), "abode" upon Him (John 1:32), and "rested" upon Him (Isa.
11:2). "Abode" means remained, dwelt, made His home, and continued with Christ. From then on
until Pentecost, the Spirit resided and remained on Christ. Isaiah prophesied of the sevenfold fullness
of the Spirit Who would "rest" upon Him: namely, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, the
Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge, and the
Spirit of the fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:2). From Zech. 4:2, and Rev. 4:5, we learn that the seven Spirits
refer to the Holy Spirit. Seven symbolizes fullness, completion, and perfection. John the Baptist
witnessed the fulfillment of this prophecy. He said, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like
a dove, and it abode upon him" (John 1:32). The prophecy of Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted ... "was given to Isaiah by the second Person of the Trinity, and
fulfilled in Matt. 3:16, and Luke 4:18-21. Christ quoted this prophecy in the first person, stating its
fulfillment in Him. Another interesting fact is, as the oil poured upon Aaron was not measured, so
"God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him" (John 3:34). What actually happened was this: the
Holy Spirit removed from the heavens and descended upon Christ to "rest upon him," to "abide upon
him" (Isa. 11:2; John 1:32), to reside in Him in all of His personality, in all of His power, in all of
His gifts, in all of His graces, and in all of His wisdom, to qualify Christ as Man for His life's work
on earth. Never before in all the history of the world had anything exactly like this taken place. The
Spirit came on Old Testament saints for service, but not to "rest," or to "abide" as He did in Christ.
Good as the great saints were throughout the Old Testament period, the Spirit could not find one to
whom He might come without measure and as a dove to abide. Only in Christ could be fulfilled the
prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit in His measureless power, gifts, and graces. If the Spirit in
all of His power, gifts, and graces had descended and rested upon any man prior to the anointing of
Christ, he could not have endured such an outpouring. Christ, the sinless, holy Man could endure this
and become a resting place for the Spirit. He possessed the capacity and possibility, for He was
sinless, and the Son of God, as well as the Son of Man. Men do not possess the great capacity Christ
did, nor an original sinlessness, neither holiness.

Christ was not baptized with the Holy Spirit. Baptism implies cleansing. Christ did not possess
a fallen nature, nor inbred sin (Heb. 4:15). Christ did not need cleansing, hence the Spirit could come
upon Him like a dove, which is an emblem of innocence and purity. Christ was anointed with the
Holy Spirit. Christ said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel" (Lu. 4:18). Peter said, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power" (Acts 4:27; 10:38). The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Him was an anointing and not a
baptism. Anointing signifies more than baptism. We learn much and are inspired when we study into
the question: Why was Christ anointed with the Holy Spirit? This question must be considered from
a twofold viewpoint. First, Christ was anointed that as a Man He might qualify to become our
Saviour and Substitute. It was not to save Him, for He was not lost, nor was it to make Him better,
for He was holy. It was to prepare Him as a Man to take man's place, do man's work, defeat man's
enemy, die, and make atonement for all men. Then, in a secondary sense, He was anointed with the
Spirit for our experiential good, that is, that He might baptize us with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11;
John 1:33).
III. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Temptation of Christ
After the anointing of Christ with the Spirit, these two Persons resided together. Never was there
a man who was led by the Spirit as perfectly, who depended on the Spirit, who lived in the Spirit,
who as fully yielded himself to the Spirit, and moved in the Spirit, as did the Man Christ Jesus.
Immediately after His anointing, the Spirit took charge of His Person and plans, and led Him into
the wilderness to be tempted of the devil (Matt. 4:1). Mark says, "Immediately the Spirit driveth him
into the wilderness" (Mk. 1:12). The Spirit took the lines and drove Christ, not by compulsion, or
coercion, but by a willing yieldedness. The Spirit did the driving and Christ, as Man, willingly
obeyed. The Spirit drove triumphantly and gloriously in the life of Christ. This is the way it should
be and may be in every Spirit-filled life. The purpose of the Spirit leading Christ into the wilderness
was that He might be tempted by the devil. Before Christ entered His ministry, it was necessary for
Him to begin where Adam failed, and overcome Satan. It also was necessary that Christ as a Man
(not as God) should overcome him by employing man's weapons. Evidently Satan was released on
Christ in all of his seducing ability without any restraint. The environments were different in the
wilderness than they were in Eden. The test was more prolonged and more severe. Christ was
tempted the entire forty days before the threefold temptation came, which is recorded in the Gospels.
From Mark 1:13 and Luke 4:2, we learn, He was tempted for forty days. The nature of the temptation
of these forty days is not recorded. However, from Luke 4:13, and Hebrews 4:15, it seems that Satan
fired his whole round of shots at Christ, that is, every temptation he could think of or concoct. It
seems that Satan saved his best shots, or most powerful bombs until last, or after the fast was broken,
when Christ was hungry. Christ was victorious over Satan. The weapons He employed were the Holy
Ghost, the Scriptures, faith, obedience, and patience. He strove lawfully and did not break any rules
of the game (II Tim. 2:5). His willingness to obey God and live according to the Scriptures helped
Him to be victorious. The Spirit led Him into the wilderness and He stayed there until the Spirit led
Him out again, which He did in due time. So willing was He to stay and obey, that He would rather
go hungry than disobey, to endure than to be impatient and act independently. God honored Him
after His victory over the temptation by sending angels who prepared a table of good things for Him
in the wilderness. The blessed results of this victory were: Satan became a defeated foe and had to
leave, for there was nothing else he could do; Christ became the Champion and God-Hero; angels

ministered to His temporal needs; the Word of God was tested, tried, proven true, and magnified;
the Father and the Holy Ghost were pleased, and every man has been benefited, for Christ overcame
Satan for every man. Then the fact that Christ returned from the wilderness in victory and in the
power of the Spirit into Galilee must not be overlooked (Lu. 4:14). The same Spirit Who dwelt in
Christ, led Him, and made Him an Overcomer, is poured upon believers in the baptism with the
Spirit. The Spirit in the believer will make him an overcomer if he will obey God, believe His Word,
and live patiently.
IV. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Ministry of Christ
1. Christ was led by the Spirit. The Spirit not only led Christ into the wilderness and out again,
but led Him all through His life. Christ lived, labored, moved, and died, in the divine schedule of His
Father's will. The Holy Spirit led Christ and He moved on schedule time. A few examples are:
"Christ must needs go through Samaria." Why? To give the Samaritan woman the water of life and
to us a lesson on soul winning (John 4). Christ arrived on schedule time. It has been suggested that
the Father made a divine appointment with the Son of God in eternity that He in time must pass
through Samaria and arrive at Jacob's well at the noon hour, when He, the most holy One, should
meet a most unholy one, and save her, then start a revival which would continue for two days in
which many would be saved. Once He said, "My time is not yet full come" (John 7:8). When Lazarus
was sick and Christ was informed, He tarried and did not go to Bethany until four days after he had
died. When He arrived, He did not apologize for not having arrived sooner. He was there on schedule
time to accomplish what God had planned for Him. On another occasion we read, "And it came to
pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to
Jerusalem" (Lu. 9:51). Christ never acted prematurely, nor was He ever late.
The desire of every Spirit-filled believer should be to live in the divine schedule for his life. Great
blessings result by moving in God's time. Any Christian worker who will observe the providences
of God in moving on schedule time will be blessed and marvel at the accurate leadership of the
Spirit.
2. The Spirit enlightened Christ. Christ was taught by the Spirit Who rested upon Him (Compare
Isa. 11:2 with Matt. 12:17,18). The Spirit of God was the source of His wisdom in the days of His
flesh on earth. The words which He spoke were the words of God. "For he whom God hath sent
speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him" (John 3:34). We are
made to marvel at His wisdom, His words, and answers. He could not be entangled, but can untangle
all men.
All Christians should depend upon the Spirit for divine wisdom. Christ promised He would teach
us all things and guide us into all truth (John 14:26; 16:13). The Spirit is a great Teacher. A Christian
is not living up to his privileges who does not depend upon the Spirit for wisdom. If Christ needed
the Spirit to empower, lead, and endue Him with wisdom, and guide Him in the time element, how
much more do we need the help of the Spirit along these lines!
3. The Spirit empowered Christ. Christ performed many miracles. His Deity is attested by His
miraculous birth, His divine names, His divine attributes, His divine offices, and by the miracles He

performed; the manner in which His name is coupled with the name of the Father, and from the fact
that He received worship. The interesting fact concerning Christ's mighty work on earth was not so
much the exertion of His Deity as the Son of God, but the employment of the Deity of the Holy Spirit
in Him as the Son of Man. Several Scriptures will bear out this fact. Christ said, "But if I cast out
devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you" (Matt. 12:28). This teaches
that the miracle power was that of the Holy Spirit. From Luke 4:18-22, we learn that the Spirit
enabled Him to preach, to heal the broken-hearted, to give sight to the blind, and to set sin-captive
souls at liberty. The commandments Christ gave to His apostles whom He had chosen were given
through the Holy Spirit. We read, "He through the Holy Ghost had given commandment unto the
apostles whom he had chosen" (Acts 1:2). Peter said, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil;
for God was with him" (Acts 10:38). Christ was anointed with the Spirit and power, for the specific
purpose of performing miracles as a Man. The gift of healing and the working of miracles are
attributed as gifts of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:9, 10). It is interesting to know that Christ did not perform
any miracles before He was thirty years of age, or until He was anointed with the Spirit.
Whatever Christ realized through the Holy Spirit is possible for us to realize. A world of
possibilities, privileges, victories, and blessings are open to believers. The very Spirit Who dwelt in
Christ and anointed Him for service is at our disposal.
V. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Death of Christ
Gethsemane presents to us the sorrows of Christ, the poison of sin, the sweet submission of the
Saviour, and the triumph of a fully surrendered life unto God. Certainly the Spirit led Him into
Gethsemane to pray. In the life of Christ, during His ministry on earth, we have an ideal example of
a Spirit-filled Man living in the height of prayer possibilities. Gethsemane means, "oil-press." It was
a garden of olive trees. The fruit was gathered, then in order to extract the oil, the olives were
crushed and subjected to intense pressure. This is highly symbolical of Christ, His suffering, the Holy
Spirit, and the enormous price Christ had to pay that the Spirit might flow from Him, to be outpoured
upon us. David foretold that Christ, the Holy One of Israel, would be like a green olive tree (Ps.
52:8). Israel is prefigured by the branches of an olive tree in the Scriptures (Rom. 11:17-24). Christ
is the tree, the roots and the fatness; but the natural branches, the Jews were broken off and the wild
branches, or the Gentiles, contrary to nature were through faith grafted into Christ. No person fits
the description of Psalm 52:8, 9, as does Christ, the God-Man. This is beautiful and interesting as
we consider the olive tree, the fruit, and the oil as a symbol of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
is the Gift of Christ unto His own. Could we associate the intense agony of Christ, His fall under the
load of sin (Mark 14:35), the sweating of blood, and His agonizing prayers with the Spirit's baptism
in our lives, certainly we would appreciate Christ and the Spirit more. Gethsemane and Calvary
cannot be separated. The one was the prelude to the other. Gethsemane was a preparation for the
more important event of Calvary. Let us not underestimate the sufferings of Christ in relation to the
outflowing Spirit Who was released from Him. Only a sinless, spotless, and holy Sacrifice could
atone for sin. All labors, gifts, sacrifices, and prayers in the Holy Ghost will be accepted by God. All
human labors and sacrifices apart from the Spirit are not accepted by God. Here is where we again
see wondrous beauty in the Son of Man, in that He through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot to God on Calvary (Heb. 9:14). The Holy Spirit enabled Him to make the supreme sacrifice.

Amid the many trials which came from the angry mob, the high priest, the council, the multitude,
the governor, the soldiers, and Satan, Christ opened not His mouth, made no complaint, uttered no
unkind word, made no unwise step, but was a silent Sufferer. He was so loving and kind that He
prayed to the Father in the hour of His greatest suffering that He would forgive them.
Every believer is greatly incapacitated without the baptism with the Spirit. The Spirit of Truth can
guide and give a revelation of the unseen and future things to the one who is filled in a measure that
He cannot to the one who is not filled (John 16:12, 13). The believer needs to be filled with the Spirit
in order to live a life of sacrifice and self-denial. The Spirit helps the believer to be taken up with
the heavenly, the future, the spiritual, and the unseen things. He also is greatly aided in living the
objective life for Christ and others and not for self.
VI. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Resurrection of Christ
When the fullness of time came, the Holy Spirit took the spirit of Christ and united it with His
body that was lying in the tomb. Then the Spirit quickened the body of Christ which had died on the
cross and remained in an uncorrupted state. This body was resurrected, changed, and spiritualized.
He came forth without disturbing the grave clothes or rolling the stone away. Most certainly Christ
was alive and out of the tomb, and the soldiers were guarding an empty tomb for a while before the
angel appeared to frighten the soldiers and roll away the stone. The stone was not rolled away to let
Christ out, but to let the women in, and the news out that He was alive. It was the Spirit Who raised
Christ from the dead (Rom. 8:11).
Even so, the Spirit needs to dwell in man, that when he dies, he will be resurrected in the likeness
of Christ, or if he lives when Christ returns, he will be changed and caught up. The only power that
can do this is the Holy Spirit. We read, "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11). The power of the Holy Spirit Who raised Christ from the
dead will be the same power that will raise the dead in Christ.
The Spirit resided in Christ during His post resurrection life. For forty days He showed Himself
alive by many infallible proofs. The Spirit was the motive power in His body. The words He uttered
and the commandments He gave, such as the command to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued
with the power of the Holy Spirit and the going forth to evangelize, were given through the Holy
Ghost (Acts 1:2).
VII. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Glorification of Christ
At the end of the first forty days of Christ's life after He was born, He was presented to the Lord.
The first forty days after His anointing, and preceding His ministry, He spent in conflict with Satan
in the wilderness, and forty days were spent on earth after the resurrection before the ascension.
Christ was born in the fullness of time, died in the fullness of time, arose in the fullness of time, and
ascended in the fullness of time. He will come again in the fullness of time. Concerning the
ascension we read, "He was received up into heaven" (Mark 16:19), "He was parted from them and
carried up into heaven" (Luke 24:51), "He was taken up" (Acts 1:9), and "He was taken up from us"

(Acts 1:22). He did not ascend in His own power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
carried Him back into the bosom of the Father in the very same body He constructed in the
incarnation, which He filled in the anointing, which He empowered for His ministry, and quickened
in the resurrection. He now presented Him to the Father, not only in His Deity, but in His Deity and
humanity, as the victorious Christ.
No man can ascend into heaven on his own merits, goodness, and power. We need the Spirit to
dwell in us, to carry us up into heaven, and present us to Christ when He comes to meet us in the air.
Christ came forth from the grave in a resurrected body, but it seems that He was not glorified until
after His ascension. Following the ascension, the blessed and holy Trinity spent ten days together
in heaven before the Spirit descended. These certainly were ten gracious and glorious days for the
Trinity. Christ was glorified before the Spirit was released from His Person. It was essential for the
Spirit to remain in Christ until He was glorified. We read, "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they
that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not
yet glorified" (John 7:39; Acts 2:33).
Little is written concerning glorification. Christ prayed, "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son
... glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was"
(John 17:1-5). Glorification must take place in the presence of the Father and be wrought by the
Father. He is the One Who glorified Christ (Acts 3:13). He was crowned with glory and honor (Heb.
2:9). Revelation, chapter one, is a graphic picture of the glorified Christ. The effect on John to
behold the glorified Christ was vastly different than the last time he had seen the resurrected Christ,
which was about sixty years before the Patmos vision.
The process of the glorification of Christ took place in heaven. The Father in all of His essence
and glory may have covered, or overshadowed His Son. The glory of Deity (the Father) charged and
penetrated the humanity of Christ and made contact with Deity (the Spirit) Who indwelt Christ.
Deity on the outside made contact with Deity in the Person of Christ and the indwelling Spirit
completed the circuit by discharging that glory which set Christ ablaze with the glory of God. Christ
became ablaze with the glory of Deity which outshines the sun. The Holy Spirit is called "the Spirit
of grace" (Heb. 10:29), and also, "the spirit of glory" (I Peter 4:14). These names bring out the fact
that the work of the Holy Spirit is to administer and apply the grace of God and also to administer
glory. In regard to man, He must first administer the grace of Christ before He can administer the
glory of Christ.
The Spirit Who indwelt the humanity of Christ from His anointing to Pentecost, prepared Him
to impart His own virtues and qualities to all believers. The Holy Spirit is called "the Spirit of Jesus."
This does not mean that the spirit of Jesus was the Holy Spirit or that the Holy Spirit was the spirit
of Jesus. Christ said He would send the Holy Spirit in His name, that means, in His very nature. The
Holy Spirit comes robed in the nature of Christ, bringing His life, benefits, virtues, and graces to the
believers which make them like Christ. There is a wealth of heavenly riches and Christlike graces
to equip everyone. When this truth enlightens any believer, it will be enough to break down every
barrier, or resistance, make him hungry for the baptism with the Spirit, and willing to give the Spirit
a welcome, even as he would if Christ came to him in Person. This truth is very clearly illustrated

y D. Y. Schultz in his book, The Paraclete. He relates that a farmer raised sheep. In the spring of
the year when the lambs came, there was a ewe which lost her lamb, and a lamb which lost its
mother. There was a lambless mother and a motherless lamb. Each was lonely and kept bleating for
its own. An idea occurred to the farmer, which was to bring the motherless lamb to the lambless
mother. His repeated efforts were all in vain. The lambless mother would not accept the motherless
lamb, for sheep own their own by scent. The lambless mother acknowledged, "You are not my lamb,
neither do I know you." Finally another idea occurred to the farmer. He took the dead lamb, skinned
it, and placed the skin upon the living lamb, then, again brought it to the lambless mother. This time
he succeeded, for the sheep accepted the lamb because it was robed in the clothes of her own lamb.
Oh, that we might get this inspiring truth and see the blessed comforting Holy Spirit robed in the
nature, virtues, and likeness of the meek, lowly, gentle Lamb of God, and give Him a welcome even
as we would Christ, should He appear to us! If we love Christ, how can we help but love the Holy
Spirit also! Could we see how much Christ wants us to be possessed with the Spirit, and how much
the Spirit desires to dwell in us, then see the need for our experiential good, also for the sake of
others, and the good we can do, it would not require any urging to seek the baptism with the Holy
Spirit.
Some day the saints of God will be glorified. Their bodies will become like the glorious body of
Christ (Phil. 3:21; I John 3:2). The holiness in believers then will shine out and be glory on the
outside (Rom. 8:18). The glorification of the saints most certainly will be in heaven and be wrought
through Christ and the indwelling Spirit in the presence of the Father. As the Spirit resided in Christ
until He was glorified, so He, too, must dwell in believers to make possible their glorification.
On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit was released from the Person of Christ and sent into the world
in the name of Christ. In explaining Pentecost, Peter employed a beautiful expression, saying, Christ
"hath shed" the Holy Ghost and sent Him into the world and He now dwells in us (Acts 2:32, 33).
As a man sheds his coat and another slips into it, so the Spirit Who dwelt in Christ was dismissed
by Him, and then came into the world to dwell in the believers. Since then, the Spirit has been in the
world in His personality, gifts, and graces. He is in the world for the specific purpose of gathering
the people for Christ's name the church. When this purpose is fulfilled, He will leave as suddenly
as He came. When He leaves this world to go up, He will take the church and present her to Christ
in the air. Of course, if He dwells in any person, He will not leave him, but take him up with Him,
for Christ promised He would abide with the believer forever.
Oh, that every sinner would yield to the conviction of the Spirit; believe in Christ, and be born
of the Spirit; then be baptized with the Spirit; walk in the Spirit; live in the Spirit; labor in the Spirit;
live a life of sacrifice and self-denial by the power of the Spirit; then to be caught up by the Spirit
and carried into heaven, where glorification will take place and salvation will be consummated. Then
he will forever be like the Lord and with the Lord.
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WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 9
THE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (I Cor. 6:19, 20).
This Scripture is addressed to the saints of God, to the Spirit-filled. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit,
and He desires a temple, a body, in which He may dwell, and through which He may work. The body
of a Christian is a temple, a dwelling place for the Spirit. A temple is a place to worship, a place to
meet God, and where God meets His people.
I. The Temple Designed
When God made man, His great concern was how He should make him. The Trinity co-operated
in unity in the creation of humanity. The Triune God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness." Then the Lord God took dust, even the very substance of the earth, and made a body for
man. He made his body with great and wonderful capacities, and also with great possibilities. The
capacity of this body formed of the dust was so great that it had room for a soul and a spirit, and in
his spirit the capacity for God. The Triune God designed the body of man. Adam was formed with
a human and visible likeness of the divine and invisible God. David wrote, "I am fearfully and
wonderfully made."
II. The Temple Defined
A temple is a house of God, even a holy place. It is a meeting place of God and man, and a place
for worship. Our bodies are God-given and should be given back to God. We live, labor, suffer, and
die in this body. We will be resurrected and go to heaven, or to hell, in the body in which we live,
that is, our own body. Our body of flesh, blood, and bones, even our hands, feet, face, tongue, and
heart, or our entire being is to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. If we defile the body and allow sin
to dwell in us, God will destroy us. The possibilities of our bodies and our spirits are great, and
beyond the comprehension of most people.
III. The Temple Confined
The tabernacle of the Old Testament had a court about it which kept it restricted from strangers
and loafers. No one could enter in only through the gate and that with an offering, or a sacrifice. The
temple of Herod in the days of Christ had its sacred enclosure. On this wall written in Hebrew, in
Greek, and in Latin, were warnings informing the Gentiles that they were restricted from entering,
and the penalty of death for trespassing. Inside the sacred enclosure was the outer court. This was
for all Israelites as worshippers. The tabernacle and temple each had a holy place in which only the

priests could enter daily. The most holy place which enshrined the Shekinah glory, the ark, and the
preserved law, was only for the high priest who could enter in only once in a year on the day of
atonement. The Greek word for the holy place was "hieron," which means a sacred priestly edifice,
and the most holy place, or the inner sanctuary was called the "naos."
Paul the apostle says your body is the temple, that is, the "naos" of the Holy Spirit. The "naos" or
the most holy place in this Scripture illustrates the sacredness of our bodies. Our bodies should
enshrine the laws of God written in our hearts, which are to be kept with jealous care, with
everything else excluded, but allowing the great High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, to dwell
within us continually.
IV. The Temple Consigned
Consigned means to give up, to sign over, to commit to the possession of another, to entrust into
the care of another, or to place in the charge of another. This is just what consecration means. We
need to yield our body to the Spirit so that it may become His temple. We are to sanctify ourselves,
then we also need to be sanctified by the Lord. To sanctify ourselves means to separate ourselves
from everything unholy and worldly, to be set apart for a holy purpose, and for the Lord; then when
the Lord sanctifies us, He accepts our body as His temple, and makes it holy for His use, and for the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Then our body becomes a house of worship, a house of prayer, and a
house that is filled and employed by the Holy Spirit. This should lead to the bearing of holy fruit
which the Spirit produces through us, and holy labors, which we produce through the indwelling
Spirit.
V. The Temple Refined
Through the fall and sin, man has sold himself to Satan. Christ died to redeem man, and before
the temple (our body) can be refined, man needs to be redeemed. In regeneration, he becomes a son
of God and an heir of God. Following regeneration, the experience of sanctification becomes a
necessity. Sanctification means to set apart, to dedicate, and it also means to cleanse, to make pure,
and holy. When we are cleansed, that will make us uncommon in the sight of God, and it also should
make us uncommon in the sight of all around us because so many people are common, sinful,
impure, unholy. The Lord informed Peter that which God had cleansed, he should not call common.
Paul prayed that the Thessalonians would be sanctified wholly, that is, through and through. This
cleansing affects the heart and gives us a pure heart, which manifests itself in clean and holy hands,
feet, eyes, tongue, ears, body, desires, ambitions, and plans. Everyone needs to be cleansed so that
his body also may be benefited by the cleansing to become a holy temple for the Spirit's indwelling,
and that He may employ it as a vessel meet for the Master's use.
VI. The Temple Enshrined
Enshrined means to be adorned and beautified. Beauty originates with God Who is the Author of
genuine beauty. The temple of the Lord was beautified with wood, brass, silver, gold, and fine
twined linen. It was adorned with the colors of red, white, blue, and purple. The wood symbolized

flesh and humanity; the brass, that sin has been judged; the silver, redemption. Gold was a majestic
emblem of holiness and godliness. The fine twined linen symbolized righteousness; the color of red,
atonement; white, purity and holiness; purple, royalty, dignity, and kingliness; and the blue,
heavenliness. The life which is under the control of the Spirit should manifest with a holy dignity
and a royal kingliness the virtues of purity, holiness, godliness, righteousness and heavenliness,
because He dwells within.
VII. The Temple Ensigned
Ensigned means a distinction which comes by a mark or ornamentation, also to distinguish by a
crown. As great changes have been wrought by the Spirit in the lives of God's children on earth, even
so the Holy Spirit will accomplish a great change in the bodies of the saints of God in the future. In
God's own time the temple of the Holy Ghost will be resurrected, and the body which has
experienced corruption, will put on incorruption. The saints who are living at that time will also
experience an instantaneous change, which will be that of the mortal putting on immortality. When
this corruption will have put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality, there will come an instant
rapture in which there will be an instant transportation of these temples of the Holy Ghost to the Lord
without spot or wrinkle, which will qualify them for their coronation. Then these temples will be
crowned with crowns of eternal glory.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 10
FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18).
The text is a double command. One is negative and the other positive. Temperance workers make
great use of the negative command, or "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess," but little is said
concerning the positive command, "Be filled with the Spirit." Becoming drunk with wine is a sin of
commission, and failing to be filled with the Spirit is a sin of omission. A person may obey the fore
part and neglect the latter part. However, if he will obey the latter part, that is, "be filled with the
Spirit," he will automatically keep the fore part. Being filled with the Spirit will positively benefit
Christ, the believer, and everybody with whom he comes in contact. A person may be temperate, yet
not be spiritual, but if he will be filled with the Spirit, he will be temperate and spiritual. A person
who is not filled with the Spirit is like a vessel that is empty.
I. Christ Needs Vessels for His Household
Every home needs vessels of various types for different purposes. Vessels are essential to the
maintenance of the home, for preparing meals, for serving meals, and for purposes of cleanliness,
and even in the cleansing of other vessels. The home that is not supplied with various types of
vessels is handicapped. The kingdom of God is likened to a household and the Lord as the
Householder. Paul wrote to Timothy, "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of
silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor." Christ needs vessels
for His household.
II. We Are the Vessels He Desires
Paul went on to say, "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto
honour." From this statement we learn that men are vessels. In the building up of His kingdom, the
preaching of the gospel, and in bringing men to Christ, the Lord employs men, Spirit-filled men.
They are the vessels He desires. The high honor of evangelizing has not been given to angels, but
to men. It has been suggested that if the call were given to angels to evangelize, heaven would be
empty in less than five minutes, and all angels would be delivering the good news of salvation to
perishing men. Angels perform a great ministry in the unseen in being "ministering spirits" to those
who are heirs of salvation. The great privilege of preaching the gospel has been delegated to men.
We belong to the Lord. He has purchased us by His blood. We are the vessels He desires to use.
Since everyone has a will and possesses the power of choice, the admonition of Paul should be
cheerfully obeyed, that is, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service." To present ourselves to the Lord means to place ourselves at His hand,
to be yielded to Him, to be near Him so that He may lay His hand on us and employ us in His
service.

III. The Vessels Unto Honor
The Lord needs vessels and we are the vessels He needs, but before He will employ us, we must
be presented, cleansed, and filled. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel
unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (II Tim.
2:21). A vessel that is purged and sanctified (set apart for holy uses) is a "vessel unto honour." This
means that the vessel is clean, fit for use, and in its place where it may be used. It is quite immaterial
what the material of the vessel is, just so it is clean, and in its place where it will daily serve its
purpose. A vessel of gold may be treasured very highly and set on a shelf hidden from view where
the dust gathers on it and never be used. On the other hand, a tin cup may be hanging by a fountain
at the roadside, where hundreds of weary and thirsty travelers pass by and are refreshed by its use.
This is a vessel of honor. It has the honor of being employed daily. It serves a useful purpose. So it
is with men. The man who is not presented, not cleansed, but setting on a shelf is not a vessel of
honor. The man that is presented to the Lord, cleansed, in his place, filled with the Spirit, and full
of the rivers of living waters, will be "meet for the Master's use," a vessel unto honor, and many will
be refreshed through him.
IV. The Emptying of Ourselves
Before the filling of the Spirit, there must be a cleansing, and before there can be a cleansing,
there needs to be an emptying. Before one family can move into a house, the former occupants must
vacate, move out, and take all their possessions with them. For one family to move into the house
of another whose furniture is in place, who have their own regulations, would lead to confusion and
friction. The house needs to be empty so the new occupants may clean it before they occupy it. We
are the house, and before the Holy Spirit comes in to fill us, there must come the emptying of the
house for His indwelling. This is our part. We are to move all things out and vacate. There must be
a self-emptying before there will be a God-filling. The emptying process includes emptying all of
our own righteousness, our own wisdom, our strength, our will, our plans, our own ambitions, and
our own ways. There can be no reservation, not even one shelf behind the door where some
seemingly innocent things may be reserved. When the Holy Spirit comes in to abide, to make His
permanent home with us, there must be a complete emptying of self so that He may completely and
eternally have His way, arrange all on the inside to His liking, and make everything in our lives
conform to God's will and holiness. This emptying process is equivalent to that which God
demanded in the Old Testament when on several occasions He said to His people, "Sanctify
yourselves." Sanctification means to separate, that is, from all that is evil, from good-self, and to be
set apart for holy purposes, for God's use, and glory.
V. The Cleansing Process
Before the Spirit comes in to dwell, He will cleanse the vessel. This cleansing is not to be
considered as an experience in itself, nor as independent of the filling. Regeneration is but one work
of grace, being wrought instantaneously, and is twofold in its nature (even including a negative and
a positive work, that is, the forgiveness of sins which saves from going to hell, and the impartation
of divine life, which saves to go to heaven). In the experience of sanctification, which is one work

of grace, and is wrought instantaneously, but is twofold in its nature (negative and positive) there is
the cleansing of inbred sin, and the impartation of power.
VI. The Filling with the Spirit
The filling with the Spirit will greatly benefit the believer, please the Spirit, and glorify Christ.
The filling with the Spirit is His incoming, His indwelling, His permanent abode. When He comes,
He brings power, His presence, His virtues, and His graces. It is He Who produces the fruit of the
Spirit in our lives. If we ever discover that we are lacking in any of the Christian graces, of the fruit
of the Spirit, and if our vessels are getting low, it is our privilege to ask Him to supply the needed
grace. Should we be lacking in joy and our plate seem to be empty of joy, all we need to do is to pass
our plate up and say, "Lord, I lack joy. Give me a large helping of joy." The Lord would be pleased
to supply our joy. The same should be done when we lack any other fruit or grace. He desires to fill
us.
VII. The Overflowing and Outflowing
With the filling of the Spirit there also need to come periods of overflowing. The filling is to
benefit ourselves and the overflowing to benefit others. The overflowing and outflowing of the Spirit
is most gratifying to self, edifying to others, and glorifying to Christ. Christ spoke of the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit which would be the rivers of living waters which should flow from our innermost
being. The filling of our own vessel (capacity) is for ourselves, essential for our own experience, and
salvation. However, there must be overflowings, or the Spirit will become grieved. If there is not an
outlet, an overflowing, the stream of blessing will become stagnant or dry up. The stream of blessing
must be kept open and flowing. When the outlet becomes clogged, the intake will not function or
take in more. Both the intake and the outlet must be kept open so the stream of blessing may flow.
A young lady some time ago beautifully expressed the thought of an open channel through which
the stream of blessing flows. In her testimony she said, "I cannot hold very much. My cup is not very
large, but I can overflow a great deal."
When we overflow, self will be hidden. As long as self is not filled and overflowing, it will be
prominent and conspicuous. The life will be subjective and not objective. If there is no overflow, the
contents of the vessel will be hidden and only the vessel will be observed. The overflow hides the
vessel.
When we overflow, Christ will be revealed. Then that which the Spirit has inwrought will be
wrought out. The overflowing not only hides the vessel, but reveals the hidden life.
When we overflow, others will be refreshed. Many people will never be blessed until they are
blessed through the overflowing blessing of someone else. It has been observed by ministers when
some saint became blessed shouting happy, that others were touched, moved to tears, brought under
conviction, or a heart hunger was created. If we could see more overflowings we would see more
being wrought on by the Spirit of God.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 11
THE IMPORTANCE OF AN OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17).
The great need of our times is an outpouring of the Spirit of God upon men. There can be no
doubt that we are living in the last days of this age. As we are nearing the end of the age, there will
be a ripening of sin, and an increase of ungodliness. Satan will give this generation an outpouring
of sin, crime, unbelief, and lawlessness. The remedy to offset the tides of wickedness is an
outpouring of God's Spirit on the young generation, and also on the old people, so that it will lead
them to live holy lives and inspire them to preach the full gospel. In the past generation, God raised
up mighty men and spiritual leaders who single-handed shook an entire community for God, men
like George Fox, John Wesley, Martin Luther, Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, and many others. God
is just as able today as He was in the past to raise up mighty preachers and evangelists to awaken
whole communities. This generation which is growing up needs a great spiritual awakening. This
can only come to pass through an outpouring of God's Spirit on the present ministry. As we study
the Scriptures, then study our needs, and the testimony of God's mighty men, we must confess our
inability to bring a spiritual awakening to pass, and that it cannot be brought to pass by might, or by
power, but only by God's Spirit.
I. It Is Essential to Cleansing
Holiness and cleanliness go together. The Lord must have clean channels through which to work
and to pour out His blessings. In the Old Testament times all who carried any vessels of the Lord
were demanded by the Lord to be clean. A holy and clean life is also a powerful life. There is power
in purity. This is true in material things, such as iron, gasoline, rubber, and it is just as true in
Christian experience. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is twofold in its nature; namely, it is a
cleansing, and an enduement. Some stress the power, but deny the cleansing. Others emphasize the
cleansing, but see nothing concerning the enduement. While some stress the cleansing and others
stress the enduement, the well balanced believer recognizes and appreciates both. Power without
holiness is dangerous, but holiness also is power. Baptism has the thought of cleansing.
Carnality in the believer hinders, defeats, and blights personality. The carnal mind is not subject
to the law of God neither indeed can be, but the carnal mind is subject to the world and to the devil.
Since it is not subject to God, and Deity cannot bring it into subjection, the logical thing for God to
do is to condemn it to death. When we are baptized with the Spirit, the old man is put off, carnality
is cleansed, and the Holy Spirit takes the place of the old man. There is nothing that blesses, inspires,
helps, and enriches personality as much as the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit-filled person

is subject to the law of God and to Deity. In the closing days of this age an outpouring of the Spirit
is essential to cleansing and holy living.
II. It Is Essential to Power
There is much powerlessness because many are not filled with the Spirit. Christ said, "Ye shall
receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." The Holy Ghost is a Person. He is equal
with God in essence and attributes, for He is God. His indwelling empowers each believer. When
He dwells in the believer, there is power, for He enables the Christian to do exactly that which He
wants him to do. Many lives were barren and powerless until they were filled with the Spirit, then
they became mighty and fruitful in the ministry. In these days of deadness, indifference, and
powerlessness, the great need is an outpouring of God's Spirit upon all saved people so that they will
become endued to testify, pray, or preach with greater inspiration and power.
III. It Is Essential To Obtain Holy Visions
"Where there is no vision, the people perish." A vision is the unseen made real. Paul was a man
of visions because he was filled with the Spirit. When the Spirit dwells in the believer, He will
impress him, teach him, lead him, and make the unseen and eternal things real to him. The Spirit can
bring mental pictures to the Christian and gently influence him along the line of service He calls him
to pursue. Without the help of the Spirit people are unconcerned and nearsighted. Many do not see
beyond their temporal and personal wants, the kitchen, the walls of their houses, or their line fences.
While they are living in luxury and ease, millions are dying without the gospel light. When the
unseen things are made real, our responsibilities will be keenly felt, and we will be stirred into
activity. Then the issues which are eternal will become present and prominent. We then become
farsighted and will see and feel the need of other souls.
A vision presupposes a commission because commission follows vision. It was so with the Old
Testament prophets and with Paul. Commission results in going forth, in the preaching of the gospel,
and that will lead to the salvation of souls. Especially do the young people who have a promising life
before them need an outpouring of the Spirit, to enable them to see visions, and to catch holy
ambitions, which will inspire them to holy labors for the Lord and lost souls.
IV. It Is Essential To Prophesy
"And they shall prophesy." This is the promise of God as given in His Word. Prophesying in the
New Testament is forthtelling, or today we would express it as testifying, exhorting, expounding,
and preaching. The Lord will not rush anyone into the ministry before he has received his
enduement. The Lord said to His disciples, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with
power from on high." Christ also said, "They shall speak with new tongues." This was fulfilled on
the day of Pentecost. It also is fulfilled in a very unique manner in some sense every time a person
is baptized with the Spirit. The so-called "unknown tongues" is not the teaching of Christ, nor a
fulfillment of this Scripture. The genuine gift of tongues is a gift and not a grace. It is a ministry of
the Spirit, not an evidence of the Spirit. On Pentecost, in Cornelius' house, and at Ephesus, the
outpouring of the Spirit preceded the speaking in tongues. To teach that speaking in some unknown

tongue (if only a few words) is an evidence we are filled with the Spirit, and that it must precede the
filling, is a delusion. All do not speak in tongues, that is, in different languages who are baptized
with the Spirit. However, a genuine baptism with the Spirit will enable us to speak with a new
tongue, that is, a tongue that has been set free, and which will freely speak of new things, such as an
experience, new blessings, new praises, with new power. One evidence a person is filled with the
Spirit is that his tongue has been loosed to give praises to God. He possesses freedom in testifying,
in exalting Christ, or in prophesying, which is preaching.
V. It Is Essential to a Life of Self-denial
Apart from the infilling of the Holy Spirit, people are self-centered. Their interests are largely
centered in themselves. They look out for number one. Human nature desires to have things nice and
easy. Naturally, human nature does not want to suffer and to put up with things that are hard to bear.
Luxury, ease, fame, and riches are the desires of most people. When the Holy Spirit has full control,
He enables the believer to give up many things for Christ's sake, and to do it with joy. The believer
surrenders his life, time and means to the Lord. An outpouring of the Spirit is essential to qualify
each believer to pursue the way of the cross and of sacrifice, that God may be glorified and other
souls saved.
VI. It Is Essential To Live a Martyr's Life
In Acts 1:8, we read, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and
ye shall be witnesses unto me." The word "witnesses" in the Greek is "martus" from which comes
our English word "martyrs." When the Spirit comes on us we will be enabled and endued to become
martyrs for Christ. Many have triumphantly laid down their lives for the faith and for Christ's sake.
When we are called to lay down our lives as martyrs, the Holy Spirit in us will supply sufficient
grace and triumph in the trying hour. It may seem like a terrible thing to be slain with the sword, or
to be burned at a stake, but if we carefully consider this, it would be a better way of dying than the
manner in which most people die. If we would be called on to be executed as was Paul, how much
better it would be to have our heads severed by the stroke of a sword and the next moment land in
glory, than to suffer and linger from some affliction, such as tuberculosis, or a cancer for a year or
two, and be that long in dying. Many will not be called on to die as martyrs; nevertheless, it takes
the martyr spirit to help us to go through courageously and triumphantly with the Lord. If people
would become so deeply established in grace and the grace of God were so deeply implanted in their
hearts that they would rather die than compromise, recant, or backslide, they would be certain to
stand, and go through with the Lord whatever it cost. An outpouring of the Spirit will give us a
martyr spirit which is pleasing to the Lord.
VII. It Is Essential To Prepare Us for the Coming of the Lord
The Holy Spirit came into the world on the day of Pentecost to gather out the bride for Christ.
When this task is completed and every member of the bride of Christ is prepared for Christ's return,
the Spirit will return to the place from whence He came. When Christ comes down, the Spirit in the
bride will go up to present her to the heavenly Bridegroom. No person can ascend on his own merits.
The only manner in which any person can ascend is by the power of the indwelling Spirit. When the

Spirit goes up at the rapture, He of necessity must take all up in whom He dwells. This blessed fact
should stir every person so that he will strive to be in that number which will be caught up to meet
the Lord in the air. It should lead each one to seek an outpouring of the Spirit. Every person born of
the Spirit may also be filled with the Spirit. The baptism with the Spirit is given to all believers who
ask, obey, and believe. The conditions which must be met in order to be filled with the Spirit are
simple and easy for all honest-hearted souls. The benefits of being filled with the Spirit are
far-reaching and long-lasting.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 12
THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).
Divine leadership is one of the offices of the Holy Spirit in this dispensation. While Christ, the
second Person of the Trinity, was on earth, He as a Man submitted Himself fully to the leadership
of the Holy Spirit from His anointing with the Spirit to His glorification, at which time the Spirit was
released and sent back into the world to take up His abode in the followers of Christ to lead them.
Christ was a perfect example of a Man being led perfectly by the Spirit. After His anointing with the
Spirit, the Spirit led Christ into the wilderness and He remained there until the Spirit led Him out.
Christ lived, labored, and moved in the divine schedule which the Spirit planned for His life. During
this period, Christ personally led His disciples from place to place as He Himself was led by the
Spirit. We read that Christ said, "Let us go into the next towns," "Let us pass over unto the other
side" and "Arise, let us go hence." Even as Christ guided His disciples while He was on earth, so the
Holy Spirit as a Person will guide all the followers of Christ.
I. He Guides Into All Truth
This does not mean that He will instantly lead every believer into all possible truth, nor all actual
truth in an absolute sense. Neither does the Holy Spirit guide the believer into political, social, or
scientific truth. This is not His work, nor in keeping with the object of His coming into the world.
Worldly wisdom does not save us, make us more spiritual, nor prepare us for the coming of Christ.
The Holy Spirit leads us into spiritual truth necessary for Christian experience, for spiritual
enlightenment, and for the progress of the spreading of the gospel. He specifically guides into
spiritual truth, but does not limit Himself to spiritual truth. He may and does guide in outward
affairs, business dealings, and that which concerns our daily lives. As a Leader, the Holy Spirit has
no equal. We must yield ourselves fully to Him in order for Him to lead us. He is just as well
qualified to lead us now as was Christ to lead His followers when He was on earth. It is just as
essential for us to obey and follow His leadership as it was for the disciples to follow Christ when
He led them.
II. He Guides Us Directly
This means more than always being led instantly, but in being led in a direct manner without any
intervention. He gives us sufficient time to understand His voice, and leadings, and when these are
not discerned immediately, He will speak again and again with a gentle voice until we recognize His
voice. He is patient and kind and does not accuse the believer while he is going slowly to determine
His voice, and to become certain of His leadership. He guides by holy impressions. His voice is kind,
yet forceful. Often it is in the faintest whisper or impression which requires an open heart and a
listening ear to detect His voice. Then He employs our heart and instills within us holy desires. These

desires are begotten by Him, and it is as we cherish them that they increase, which should lead to
earnest and fervent prayer. The Holy Spirit will help us to pray for them and bring them to fruition.
Again, He leads by employing not only our hearts, but also our minds. By controlling our minds, He
brings to us whole some thoughts which lead us in making right decisions and taking right steps.
Unto the sanctified, He gives sanctified judgment. Then again, the Holy Spirit guides us by special
providences. His providences should be observed even as much as we would observe direct miracles.
The providences of God are His operations in the employment of natural means, which are as truly
divine operations as if He employed supernatural means, or the working of miracles. The person who
observed the providences of the Spirit will witness them and be blessed by them.
III. He Guides Us Through Holy Men
We read, "Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety"
(Prov. 11:14). It is scriptural, safe, and wise for younger Christians, the inexperienced, and also
mature Christians, to seek the counsel of those who are mature, experienced, and deeply spiritual.
The spirit of independence needs to be guarded against, and those who refuse to be admonished are
in a dangerous state. It is well to recognize divine ordination. The Lord appoints spiritual human
leaders to be over others. The Lord at first did not speak directly to Saul, but to Samuel, who told
Saul what to do, and to anoint him to be king over Israel. It also was Samuel who anointed David
to be king before David had heard from the Lord about becoming a king. Later David heard from the
Lord directly many times. The prophets, who were in touch with the Lord, often gave the message
of the Lord to individuals and to the people collectively. The apostle Paul often chose elders to
become church officers and appointed ministers to become pastors of churches. The inexperienced
and younger Christians should freely seek the advice of those who are spiritual and mature. Some
young Samuels, who desire to do the will of the Lord, but do not clearly recognize the voice and
leading of the Spirit, need some aged Elis to help them to recognize and clearly understand the voice
and leadings of the Spirit. All people who give counsel to others should be deeply spiritual and much
in prayer to discern the leadings of the Spirit and never give advice which is contrary to the
Scriptures.
IV. He Guides Us by Restraint
The Holy Spirit employs His restraining force or influence in controlling people's thoughts and
feelings. He leads by repression, that is, checking or curbing the Christian. The red light on the
highway of guidance is to be observed by stopping as well as the green light in going. When Christ
heard that Lazarus was sick, He abode two days in the place where He was. The Spirit restrained
Him from going to Bethany at that time. On another occasion He said, "I go not up yet unto this
feast; for my time is not yet full come." The Holy Spirit restrained Paul from preaching in Asia and
suffered him not to go into Bithynia. David wrote, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:
and he delighteth in his way" (Ps. 37:23). A man of God wrote in the margin of his Bible opposite
this text, "And the stops too."

V. He Guides Us by Constraint
Constraint means the opposite of restraint. Constrain means to compel, to urge onward. It is the
green light on the pathway of guidance. Paul received a vision of a man calling him to come over
and help the Macedonians. He considered this as a direct leading of the Lord. The one who would
be guided by the Spirit must be yielded, and just as willing to obey one way as another, but be one
hundred per cent obedient when the will of the Lord has been revealed. Obedience makes guiding
easy.
VI. He Guides Us by Instrumentalities
Sometimes He leads by different instrumentalities. An example of this is through the preached
Word. The Spirit gives holy men whom He has qualified to preach the Word of God a revelation of
His will. The person whom the Lord has called to preach His Word becomes the mouthpiece of the
Lord through whom He speaks to others. When the Spirit employs a servant of he Lord, His voice
through human lips is to be heeded even as if le spoke to each one directly.
Again the Spirit guides through providences. Every line has two ends, and it is safe to move when
the Spirit works at both ends. An example of this is given in the tenth chapter of Acts. [he Lord
moved upon Cornelius, and also on Simon Peter, giving each a vision to bring them together. In the
incident of Philip the evangelist and the Ethiopian eunuch, the operations of the Lord can be easily
traced from each end of the line. The eunuch was drawn to Jerusalem to worship. The Christians had
been scattered by the persecution, and Judaism with its dry ceremonies did not satisfy his heart. The
Lord would not allow him to return to his country with a hungry heart after he had come many
hundred miles to meet the true God. Philip, who was in the midst of a successful revival, was called
away from Samaria to go south to the way that went down from Jerusalem to Gaza. God was
working at both ends of the line to bring these two men together. When Philip arrived there, a chariot
came along, then the Spirit told him to join himself to this chariot. By being obedient, he not only
made connections on schedule time, but he also won the eunuch to Christ.
VII. He Guides Us by the Scriptures
The Bible is the infallible guide book which God has given to men. God's will for our lives is
clearly revealed in it. There we learn what is right and what is wrong, and that which helps us to
determine the right course in life. The Lord has given us the history of men who did evil in the sight
of the Lord with their fearful consequences, that we may shun evil, and men who did right in the
sight of the Lord that we may emulate them. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Scriptures and He
guides us by the Scriptures. Let no one think that when he has been baptized with the Holy Spirit that
he does not need the Scriptures any more. Every leading and impression of the Spirit will harmonize
with the Scriptures. He never leads contrary to the Scriptures, nor independent of them. He
illuminates them to our intelligence, then guides us by them. In time of decision, He will, if we wait
upon Him, bring to our hearts the right Scripture, or the right Bible example which will help us to
determine His will.

We should become very susceptible to His leadings and sensitive to His voice. When we cherish
His leadership and listen to His voice, He will guide us unerringly and into all truth.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 13
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A DIVINE GIFT
All people like to receive gifts. God delights in giving gifts to the children of men. One of the
characteristics of God is abundance. God is a Father. The nature of a father is to live for his children
and to give good gifts to them. Christ is the gift of the Father. The Father willingly and gladly gave
Him to become the Redeemer of the world. Christ freely gave Himself and His life to save sinners.
He freely gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. The Father and the Son together gave the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives Himself, His time, His gifts, His graces, and His virtues to the believers.
We should gladly receive and cherish all that He desires to give us. The Lord not only delights to
give us gifts, but He delights for us to accept them.
I. He Is Given as the Gift of the Father
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13).
Christ directed His followers to pray for the Holy Spirit. We should be willing to accept that
which our heavenly Father wants to give us. The Spirit has been promised. He is called the "Spirit
of promise." Isaiah wrote of the outpouring of the Spirit in the following words: "Behold, I will do
a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert" (Isa. 43:19). "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon
the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring" (Isa. 44:3).
The prophet Joel also wrote concerning the outpouring of the Spirit. The message of the Lord to
him was, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit"
(Joel 2:28, 29). The same One Who gave His Son to be our Saviour, also gave the Spirit to be our
Comforter. Christ makes a comparison between our earthly parents and our heavenly Father, saying,
"How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." We cannot
measure the "how much more," because God is infinite and our parents are only finite. Earthly
parents are greatly concerned about their children, their health, their education, their food, and the
gifts they receive. Even so, our heavenly Father is infinitely more interested in our spiritual welfare
and the gifts which we receive. The one great Gift our heavenly Father has designated for us is the
Holy Spirit. He not only is a Gift, but is also a divine Person Who is capable of doing for us all that
Christ did for His disciples while He was on earth. Parents know better what is good for their
children than the children know what is good for themselves. Our heavenly Father knows what we
have need of, and He knows that we need the Holy Spirit. We should receive Him just as graciously
and willingly as the Father gives Him. It greatly pleases our heavenly Father when we ask Him for
the Holy Spirit, and it is a great joy to the Holy Spirit to come when we accept Him.

II. He Is Given as the Gift of the Son
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7).
The Holy Spirit is not only the Gift of the Father, but He is also the Gift of the Son. The disciples
became sorrowful when Christ told them He was going to leave. In comforting them, He said that
He would send them the Comforter. In Old Testament times, the prophets, in time of suffering and
persecution comforted the saints by giving them the great prophecies of the coming of Christ and the
glory which follows, even so, Christ comforted His disciples concerning His leaving by promising
to give them the Holy Spirit. He said He would send Him in His name. Everyone who has accepted
Christ should be willing also to receive the Holy Spirit. It pleases Christ when we receive that which
He wants to give us.
III. He Is Given Through the Intercession of Christ
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever" (John 14:16).
The great promises of the Old Testament were concerning the coming of the Messiah. The great
promise of the New Testament is the giving and coming of the Holy Spirit. Christ prayed to the
Father that He would give the Holy Spirit to all His followers. This does not mean that the Father
was unwilling to give Him and that through the prayer of Christ He was made willing, but that the
giving of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the mediation and intercession of Christ, having been
purchased by His death and made possible by His ascension. The Holy Spirit was given in answer
to Christ's prayer, and is received by the believer by asking for Him in prayer.
IV. He Is Given Through the Exaltation of Christ
"But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost
was not yet given: because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:39).
It was essential for Christ to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit to enable Him to offer Himself to
God in sacrifice, then to quicken Him in the resurrection, and carry Him up into the bosom of the
Father in the ascension and reside in Him until He was glorified before the Spirit could be released.
The Holy Spirit was not given to men during the period of Christ's humiliation. The Gift of the Spirit
was purchased by the blood of Christ. To give this Gift cost Christ a great price. The Holy Spirit
could not be given until Christ was glorified. This glorification included His death, resurrection,
ascension, exaltation and glorification. The death of Christ is sometimes called glorification (See
John 13:31). The exaltation of Christ made possible the giving of the Holy Spirit. When Christ
uttered the words of John 7:39, the Holy Spirit was not yet given. The gracious and plentiful effusion
of the Holy Spirit was then a matter of promise. It was essential that the Spirit should reside in Christ
during the period of His humiliation, while He as a Man was subordinate to the Holy Spirit, until He
consummated His ministry on earth as a Man. During His earthly ministry, up to the time of His
ascension, the second Person of the Trinity subordinated Himself to the third Person of the Trinity;

therefore, Christ could legally give Him to His followers. The indwelling of the Spirit was essential
for the process of the glorification of Christ as the Son of Man, and then the Spirit could be released
to come to take the place of Christ on earth.
V. He Is Given to Those Who Ask
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13).
From this Scripture we learn, as under the first division, that the Holy Spirit is the Gift of the
Father. On the human side, we learn that He is given for the asking. Our part is to ask. Back of this
asking there needs to be an earnest desire for His coming and a heartfelt need for His presence. It
needs to become a great concern with us and that we desire Him more than we do anything else.
When we consider the great concern of Christ to give us the Holy Spirit, the price He paid that it
might be possible for Him to be given, with the prayer that He offered that we might be sanctified,
we should receive Him just as willingly as we would receive Christ if He were on earth. This asking
is not to be optional with us, but needs to become a great concern with an intense desire for His
coming, until it will give expression in earnest pleadings for His reception.
VI. He Is Given to Those Who Obey
"And we are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given
to them that obey him" (Acts 5:32).
The Holy Spirit is given to obedient believers. He is not given as a luxury, a toy, or for personal
gratification, nor for us to employ Him for our selfish motives; but rather that He may cleanse,
empower, employ, and divinely lead us. He does not come where there is disobedience to God, nor
where there is not a full surrender. This obedience needs to be firm, fixed, and final. It requires one
big eternal "yes" to God, and that we will never change this "yes" to a no. The Holy Spirit does not
come where He is not desired, or cherished. He must forever and ever have His way, and our will
needs to become surrendered to the Lord before He comes to abide.
VII. He Is Given to Those Who Believe
"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he
did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:8,
9).
The third and final condition on the human side for receiving the Holy Spirit is faith. The
conditions will always be the same for all people. When the conditions for receiving Him are met,
it inspires and helps our faith to believe. When we meet the conditions of Luke 11:13 (that is, ask)
and Acts 5:32 (that is, obey) it will be easy to meet the conditions of Acts 15:8, 9 (that is, believe).
Faith and obedience always go together. Faith does not operate independently of obedience.
Obedience inspires faith. As these conditions are met, the Holy Spirit gladly comes to make His
abode with us. We are commanded to receive the Holy Ghost. Receive means to take something that

is offered, or sent to us, to accept it, even to admit it, and to hold on to it, which then will be in our
possession. Receiving Him is the faith which accepts Him and takes Him into our possession. He
is a Gift and must be received as a Gift. On the divine side, He is given as the Gift of the Father and
of the Son, and through the intercession and exaltation of Christ. On our part, He is received by
asking, obeying, and believing.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 14
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Every believer should possess some understanding concerning the gifts of the Spirit. First of all,
it should be the desire of every Christian to live a holy life, and secondly, to live a useful life. The
better we become acquainted with the Spirit, His gifts, and His operations, the easier it will be for
us to co-operate with Him, and the more useful we may become in the ministry.
I. Gift of the Spirit and the Spirit's Gifts
There is a distinct difference between the Gift of the Spirit and the Spirit's gifts. Every believer
should first of all desire the Gift of the Spirit before desiring the Spirit's gifts. With the coming of
the Gift of the Spirit, there may come some of the Spirit's gifts. The difference between the Gift of
the Spirit and the Spirit's gifts is: the Spirit is given by the Father and the Son, and is Their Gift to
the believer, but the Spirit's gifts are given by the Spirit to believers. A person may have the Gift of
the Spirit and not the Spirit's gifts, or he may have some spiritual gifts and not the Gift of the Spirit.
The former is a Person and the latter is a divine implement. The first is an experience and the second
is an enduement and enablement along a special line of Christian work. The Gift of the Spirit is for
every believer, but the gifts of the Spirit are not divided equally, or alike unto people. The Gift of
the Spirit is for our personal experience and salvation. The Spirit's gifts are for the benefit of others,
even "to profit withal," that is, for the profit of other people. The Gift of the Spirit as a grace is not
transient, but abiding. The gifts of the Spirit as enablements or tools are transient and will cease, fail,
and vanish in due time.
II. Difference Between Grace and Gifts
Grace and gifts should not be confused. It will be beneficial to the believer in his Christian
experience, and Christian service, to be able to properly differentiate between the two. The term
grace" is used in several different senses. First, grace is God's undeserved mercy and lovingkindness.
It is something we do not deserve or merit and is bestowed on us by God. Then grace is used in the
sense of Christian experience, such as, the experience of regeneration, which is a grace, and the
experience of sanctification, which also is an experience of grace and subsequent to regeneration.
Then the glorification of the bodies of the saints which is future, also will be an experience and is
a grace. Each of these is called a grace and is wrought by God, for man is helpless and can do
nothing to save himself. Then when we speak of the virtues of the Lord which are the manifestations
of His operations through our conduct, these also are called graces.
Gifts are enduements, implements, enablements, or they might be likened to tools with which to
work. Gifts do not save us, neither do they make us more holy. They are given to make us more
useful, to make us instrumental in saving others. Grace is given to us by the Lord, which is for self,
to save and to keep self; but gifts are given in behalf of others that they may be saved and for the

upbuilding of the body of Christ. Gifts help us to save others. Grace might be likened to wheat, and
gifts to tools with which to raise more wheat. Gifts do not make us any better, but they make us more
useful. The farmer who is equipped with a full line of tools will accomplish much more than the man
who has a limited supply of tools. A man might be given a shovel, a hoe, and a rake. With these he
might spade a small patch of ground and pulverize it, which prepares it for sowing. Another man
might be given a tractor with a gang plow, a harrow, and a drill. He would accomplish much more
in a day without working any harder than the man with a shovel. The reason he accomplished more
is not that he has worked harder, or possessed a greater goodness than the other man, but the reason
lies in the fact that he had better implements with which to work. Again, a man might be given a
sickle to harvest wheat, a rake, and a flail with which to thresh it. He works hard all day, yet reaps
very little grain. Another man might be given a tractor with a combine and reap a thousand bushels
in a day, yet he has not worked harder than the man with the sickle. The reason he reaped more grain
was that he was equipped with better implements. Gifts are tools with which to work for the benefit
of others, but grace is subjective and for our personal salvation.
Grace is dispensed and gifts are distributed. Grace comes as the gift of God's love; gifts come as
gifts from the wisdom of God. Grace is for all, but special gifts are only for some. Grace is dispensed
without respect of persons, to help each one through life and to enter heaven, but gifts are not
conferred equally.
Every converted and Spirit-filled person evidently possesses a gift along some line. Certainly God
has designed that every member of the body of Christ shall be endued for Christian service along
some line. In this connection we read that "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man," for
the profit of all, "to every man severally as he wills."
III. Gifts Which Are the Grant of Christ
There is a vast difference between the gifts of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts
which are the grant of Christ are listed in Eph. 4:8-11: "Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up
on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men... and he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." Christ became a Man to redeem
men. He became a Man in order to take man's place, fight man's battles, overcome man's enemy, and
atone for man's sins. We read that when He ascended on high, He gave gifts to men. The gifts which
He gave unto men were men, holy men, consecrated men. They were apostles (preachers),
evangelists, pastors, and teachers. They were consecrated men who were fully yielded to Christ,
having given themselves to Christ, and were accepted by Christ, then by Christ given back to the
church. Paul always speaks of himself as "an apostle of Jesus Christ, or as a servant of Christ," and
that his commission was from Christ and not from the Spirit. It is not any church board,
denominational board, or seminary that is authorized to determine the ministry of the church. Christ,
the great Head of the church, alone has retained that right as His special prerogative. No person has
a right to any of these positions apart from the appointments by the Son of God, and who are not
thoroughly consecrated and fully yielded to the Lord. The church should be thankful for men -- holy
men -- consecrated men -- men like Paul, Peter, John, John Wesley, Martin Luther, Finney, Moody,
Spurgeon, and all others who have yielded their lives, and time, with their all to the Lord, having
been accepted by Christ, Who has taken these men and given them back to the church. Their ministry

is threefold. Paul says it is "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:12). These are the grant of the ascended and glorified Son
of God.
IV. Gifts Which Are the Grant of the Holy Spirit
The gifts of the Spirit differ from the gifts of Christ. The gifts of the Spirit, as mentioned before,
are implements, enablements, or tools. Christ called the disciples to follow Him, then He also told
them to tarry until they had been endued by the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are enumerated in I Cor.
12:8-10. These are: "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of
knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by
the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of
spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues." Here we learn
that one gift is given to one and another gift to another. These gifts differ. One person does not
possess all of these gifts, for we read "but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to
profit withal," which means these gifts are not given for personal profit, but for the profit of all, even
others. It is the Spirit's office to enable and to endue each one whom He calls to any special work.
The gifts of the Spirit are essential to the spiritual progress of the church.
V. Balancing Gifts with Grace and Love
Gifts may become dangerous for they tend to puff up. Not all people can be trusted with great gifts
for the reason that they would become elated, and proud, and thus lose their grace. Such a loss
endangers their personal salvation. The first concern of every person should be that he is well saved
and thoroughly established. Then, his next concern should be the salvation of others. It is very
essential that the Lord give the needed amount of grace and divine love to everyone who is gifted
along any line in order to properly balance his gift so that it will not cause an unbalanced state in his
Christian experience. It is very proper that grace is given by the Lord according to the measure of
the gift that is bestowed on each person (Rom. 12:6; Eph. 4:7). The gifts of the Spirit are attended
by special grace. In the parable of the talents, there was given "to every man according to his several
ability." Christ makes a special grant of grace to those on whom the Spirit divides gifts. Gifts without
grace are dangerous. The world's most highly gifted men without grace are the world's most
dangerous men. Examples in which gifts outbalanced grace in men who were highly gifted, but sadly
lacking in grace were Balaam, Gideon, Samson, Saul, David, Solomon, and Judas Iscariot. Balaam
was highly gifted as a prophet, and he uttered some great prophetic messages and Messianic
prophecies; nevertheless, he joined his enemies and died not as the righteous dieth, but fell on the
battlefield fighting the very people whom he was forced to bless. Gideon was mightily used by the
Lord and brought great deliverance to Israel; however, in taking the idols and gold from the enemies
he conquered, he made them into gods of his own and worshipped them. Samson's history presents
a mystery. He was highly gifted and could conquer his enemies, but failed to conquer himself. He
went to loving the Philistines instead of destroying them, and gave away his secret of power. He lost
his hair, his power with God, and also his eyes. His hair grew and so did his repentance. He died with
the Philistines; however, he died not as a Philistine. Saul, also, was lacking in grace and became a
failure. David could kill a lion, a bear and the giant, but on one occasion he failed to control himself,
which brought a great blot on his life. Solomon was highly gifted, but lacked in holiness and grace.

Judas Iscariot was highly favored, but the course he pursued led to his defeat. Imperfect moral
character may accompany great spiritual gifts. Those who are highly gifted, yet lacking in grace will
end in sorrow and disaster.
The apostle Paul concludes the great gift chapter by saying, "and yet show I unto you a more
excellent way" (I Cor. 12:31). Then he gives the great love chapter (I Cor. 13). Here he states that
the gifts of tongues, oratory, prophecy, the ability of understanding all mysteries, the gift of faith, and
that sacrifice and self-denial are nothing and profit self nothing without charity or love. Love is
better, greater, more profitable, more enduring, more pleasing to the Lord than these. When grace
and love accompany spiritual gifts and outbalance them, the possessor is blessed with a splendid
combination.
Two great men were born almost at the same time. Both were far famed and nation named. Each
died within a few months of the other and they died of the same disease. Their characters were
diverse. One was a blessing and the other one became a curse. One was blessed by an abundance of
grace and the other one was cursed with unbelief. Both appeared before the public and hundreds
went to hear them. One believed in God, in Christ the Son of God, and the inspiration of the Bible;
but the other one was an atheist, denying the Deity of Christ. One was the means of many being
converted, of Bible Schools being established where many were trained for the ministry; while the
other one lectured against Christianity, wrecking the faith of many. One was the servant of the Lord,
helping the Lord to populate heaven; but the other one was the servant of Satan, helping him to
populate hell. When the former was dying, some of his last words were: "This is my triumph; this
is my coronation day! I have been looking forward to it for years." When the other one died, the
Dobbs Ferry home was desolate and dark. The former was none other than D. L. Moody and the
latter one was Bob Ingersoll. Some time before Moody died he said, "One of these days you will read
in big headlines that D. L. Moody, of Northfield, Massachusetts, is dead. Don't you believe a word
of it because then I shall be more alive than ever." Some time before Bob Ingersoll died he said,
"There is no God. I will prove it to you." He pulled out his watch and said, "If there is a God, I will
give Him five minutes to strike me dead." The five minutes passed by and nothing happened. He
said, "See, I have proven unto you there is no God." That did not prove the nonexistence of God, but
rather proved the patience of God. Why should there be such a great difference between these two
men? We understand both had Christian parents. One possessed the gift of salvation and a gift to
evangelize, plus the measure of grace and the love of God to make him a holy man and well balanced
in his gifts. Ingersoll, the infidel, rejected the Saviour and refused the grace of Christ. He was a
dangerous person. All who are highly gifted should pray for sufficient grace and divine love in order
to be well balanced in their heart life and ministry, to be holy so that God will be glorified, His cause
honored, and self kept humble and usable in the sight of God and the people.
VI. Best Spiritual Gifts Are To Be Coveted
In writing the great "Gift" chapter, Paul concludes by saying, "But covet earnestly the best gifts"
(I Cor. 12:31). Then in the great "Tongues" chapter, he begins by saying, "Follow after charity and
desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy" (I Cor. 14:1). To prophesy evidently means
to forthtell, or to preach. To covet in this text means to desire gifts for one's self in order to become
more useful. In I Cor. 12:31 and 14:1, we are commanded to "covet" and to "desire spiritual gifts";

however, we should desire the best spiritual gifts. Covet here means to be zealous for. People covet
health, wealth, fame, and beauty, and they put forth an effort to secure these. When the Spirit begets
a holy desire within us, we should not neglect or overlook this desire, but rather cherish and foster
it. Then as it increases (and it will, if it is of the Spirit), that desire will come to fruition as it matures.
It is right that we should desire to be deeply spiritual and to be highly useful. God delights in us
when we desire spiritual gifts. We should set our ideals high and qualify for the most useful life.
VII. Receiving Spiritual Gifts in Answer to Prayer
It has been expressed by some that it is perfectly right to desire spiritual gifts, but that we should
not ask for them, that it is not scriptural to ask for spiritual gifts. It would rather seem consistent with
other Scriptures that when we covet that which is holy and good, and desire that which is spiritual,
we should ask the Lord in prayer and faith for the same. An example of this is given from the life
of Dr. S. A. Keen, a great revivalist. He was a great pastor, evangelist, and camp meeting preacher.
The Lord greatly used him in the salvation and sanctification of many people. He observed in his
camp meeting work that many adults were saved, but that in the children's meeting the children were
not saved. This became a desire to him, that is, the salvation of the children, and this desire
developed into a burden. Dr. Keen had no gift in dealing with children or in leading them to the
Lord; however, he became greatly grieved that the children were not being reached. He went into the
woods and made it an object of prayer, praying something like this: "O Lord, save the children for
they are not being reached. I have no gift in leading children unto Thee. Dear Lord, if Thou canst
trust me with a gift of reaching the children and in leading them unto Thee in addition to the gift
which Thou hast given me, I will be careful to glorify Thee and not take any honor unto myself. I
ask this for Thy glory and for the sake of the children who are not saved." God, in answer to prayer,
gave Dr. Keen the desire of his heart in giving him the gift to lead the children to the Lord. From that
day to his death he was very successful in leading the children to the Lord. The Lord saw that it was
for His own glory and for the good of the children, and that Dr. Keen did not ask this for his glory;
therefore, the Lord gave him an additional gift, that of being a successful children's worker.
It is said that when Dr. McIntyre, another great preacher, heard that Dr. S. A. Keen had in answer
to prayer obtained a gift for leading children to Christ, he, too, became encouraged and inspired to
pray for a gift which he greatly desired, even that of leading seekers at an altar into a saving faith.
He had been greatly burdened concerning seekers who came to an altar and were not led into
appropriating faith. He took this desire to the Lord and prayed that he might receive the gift of
leading seekers into a saving faith and knowledge. God answered his prayer and gave him the desire
of his heart. Dr. McIntyre became qualified to deal with seekers in speaking to them the "word of
faith." After this he could begin at one end of an altar full of seekers and one by one lead them to
Christ, and in a little while have the entire altar cleared of seekers.
The great need of our times is for a host of people who will receive the Gift or Person of the
Spirit, and also the gifts of the Spirit to enable them first of all to live holy and humble lives, and
secondarily for an aggressive evangelistic ministry to profit other people.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 15
THE IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS
The great purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world for this age is the gathering out
of the church, a people for the name of Christ. The "people for the name of Christ" will be the bride
of Christ. At conversion, the believer takes the name of Christ on his lips and identifies himself with
Him, then after the second coming of Christ, the church will be united in marriage with the Lamb,
to go forever by His name. Even as Eliezer had everything Abraham possessed at his disposal when
he went after a bride for Isaac, so the Holy Spirit has everything Deity possesses at His disposal in
the gathering out of the church. The Spirit employs saved people in the saving of lost souls. He
equips every Christian in some manner to be of service in the work of the Lord. The Spirit works
through believers in the accomplishment of His purposes. For this purpose spiritual gifts are
bestowed on believers to qualify them for gospel service.
I. The Importance of Spiritual Gifts
The successful farmer needs a supply of the right implements to equip him along the line in which
he specializes. If he specializes in raising wheat, certain implements are essential to enable him to
produce wheat. The better he is equipped, the more wheat he will be able to produce. The carpenter
who would be successful in building houses must have a good supply of carpenter tools with which
to work and build. If he lacks the proper tools, he will be limited in building. In order to be
aggressive, every church should have among its own group a variety of gifts and Christians who are
qualified to work for the Lord along every line of Christian work. These gifts will not save the
possessors, but will make them more efficient in the ministry. The objective is the salvation of
others.
II. The Classification of Spiritual Gifts
The apostle Paul has more to say about spiritual gifts in his writings than all the other Bible
writers. In Rom. 12:6-8, there are seven gifts mentioned. "Having then gifts differing according to
the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on
exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that
showeth mercy, with cheerfulness." In I Cor. 12:8-10, we read of the nine gifts of the Spirit: wisdom,
knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different
kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues. Then in I Cor. 12:28, we read of eight spiritual offices
and gifts: apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healings, helps, governments, and diversities
of tongues. In Eph. 4:11, Paul writes of the gifts which are the grant of the Son of God. These gifts
are men that Christ gave to the church that the body of Christ may be built up and the saints
perfected. These are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. By comparing these four
lists and grouping them together it seems clear that there are the following gifts:

1. Apostles (those sent forth, or missionaries). 2. Prophets who possess the gift of prophecy,
which in the New Testament is more the gift of forthtelling than that of foretelling. This might be
considered as the gift of preaching. 3. Evangelists are traveling preachers who possess the gift of
wisdom, or that of soul winning. 4. Pastors, those who become shepherds of the flock. 5. Teachers,
who evidently possess the gift of knowledge and that of interpreting the Scriptures. 6. Exhortation,
that of being able to wisely admonish people. 7. Faith, which is to be distinguished from evangelical,
or saving faith, but as the gift of faith, which is exercised in relation to others. 8. Miracles. 9. Gifts
of healings. 10. Government, or the gift of ruling, which has to do with running the business of the
church and its discipline. 11. Ministry, which has the thought not so much of preaching, as that of
a servant, an assistant and supporter of those who preach. 12. Giving, which does not receive the
proper emphasis and explanation in the ministry. All Christian people who have the gift of making
money, possess the gift of giving, whether they know it or not. The ability to acquire and to make
money is God-given, and God does not give this ability to Christian people to merely become rich
and hoard their money for a selfish purpose, but rather that they may give to the Lord's work to make
possible the going forth of others who have a gift in the ministry, but possess no money and need to
be supported. This gift should be exercised as well as any other gift. 13. Discerning of spirits. This
is a delicate, yet essential gift, for there are times when someone needs the spiritual perception to
make known things which are right, or not right; which are of the Lord, or of self. 14. Helps. This
is a splendid gift and there should be a goodly number in every church who possess this gift. This
is the gift when exercised makes the work of the Lord to go and grow. Those possessing this
splendid little gift will fit in and be a great help in time of emergency, whether it is that of giving,
praying, leading a prayer meeting, teaching a Sunday school class, encouraging the preacher, or
anything that will help the work of the Lord along. 15. Mercy or cheerfulness. This also is a splendid
gift in relation to those who need material help or spiritual help. Those who possess this gift are able
to administer material help which relieves physical suffering and to give spiritual encouragement,
which helps to lift sorrows, doubts, and spiritual disappointment. 16. Tongues. 17. Interpretation of
tongues. These two are given last because they are the least among the gifts. These gifts should not
be confused with that of the modern unknown tongues. Certainly those who possess the genuine gift
of tongues will be like the one hundred twenty who understood what they said and so did those who
heard them. Concerning the gift of interpretation of tongues, the one who interpreted understood the
language of the speaker and translated it into the language of the congregation so they understood.
III. The Holy Spirit Distributes the Gifts
The Holy Spirit is Deity; therefore, He knows what is the mind and will of God. He knows what
the plan of God is for every individual and works in divine unity and harmony with the Father and
the Son as the Divine Executive on earth. He is the Dispenser of the spiritual gifts and wisely
distributes the different gifts among the believers. Paul wrote, "For to one is given by the Spirit the
word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same
Spirit," etc. See I Cor. 12:7-11. The gift which He bestows on any person will be the best and highest
gift for that person.

IV. The Holy Spirit Stirs Up Our Gifts
The Holy Spirit stirs up a person along the line of the gift He has bestowed on him. He stirs the
inner man, our spirit. He does not pick us up and force us into the doing of things, nor will He make
a pugilist out of us, or a mere machine to employ us against our will, desires, or co-operation. The
divine fervor and energy of the Spirit upon our spirits are absolutely essential in the ministry.
Without this divine fervor and energy, human energy, enthusiasm, and power fall short and
accomplish nothing. The Holy Spirit furnishes this divine fervor and spiritual energy which greatly
moves our spirits.
V. The Stirring Up of Our Gifts
The stirring of the Holy Spirit is indispensable, but it is not sufficient in itself to accomplish the
work of the Lord. We need to work in co-operation with the Holy Spirit when He operates in our
behalf. There needs to be a human stirring, a human enthusiasm, and a fervency, even a stirring up
of ourselves and our gifts. When the Holy Spirit stirs our spirits, and we do not catch the inspiration
and stir ourselves into action, nor allow the divine fervency of the Spirit to operate through us, the
stirring of the Spirit will not avail, neither accomplish the desired results. Neither is the divine
stirring apart from the human fervency and action satisfactory or sufficient to accomplish God's will.
On the other hand, human fervency independent of the Holy Spirit's fervency is not adequate or
competent to accomplish the work and will of the Lord. It requires both the stirring of the Holy Spirit
and the stirring of our spirits in co-operation and unity with each other to accomplish the work of
the Lord. The Holy Spirit does not possess a body; therefore, He moves upon our spirits. When He
moves upon the spirit of man, which is so vitally related and connected with the soul ("anima" Lat.),
and the soul to the body ("corpus" Lat.), there needs to be a co-operation between the spirit, soul, and
body to become the outlet of the divine operations of the Holy Spirit in man. When the Holy Spirit
stirs the spirit of man, then the spirit moves the soul, the soul then needs to bring the body into action
to carry out the leadings of the Spirit. When the moving of the Holy Spirit upon the human spirit is
not obeyed, the spiritual fervor will die. His moving leads to an acceleration of the spirit upon the
soul, which often seems to accelerate the body. When His leadings are suppressed it may lead a
person to receive what might be called the "thumps." To illustrate this truth, let us give this as an
example: In a testimony meeting the Spirit of the Lord comes on an individual, and inwardly he is
blessed, stirred, and wrought upon to give a testimony. When the believer does not respond, but
suppresses the inward moving, it even affects the physical and the heart seems to pound heavily.
What is taking place is, the Holy Spirit is moving the spirit, then the spirit is stirring the soul to move
the body to get up and give expression to the movings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not
pick up and force the body to speak forth His message and the praises of God, but that is left up to
the will and operations of man.
Paul admonished Timothy not to neglect the gift that was within him. A gift may be neglected by
not giving self to the exercise of that gift, by failing to pray for its improvement, or by giving no
attention to its possession, or concern to its development. Paul also admonished Timothy to stir up
the gift that was within him. The way to stir up a gift within is to use it, study the Bible, become
more holy, study to become more efficient in the ministry, and in the employment of the Scriptures
and prayer.

VI. The Skillful Employment of Our Gifts
Gifts may be increased, and by the exercise or use of them, we become more skillful in their
employment. In the parable of the talents, one man increased his five talents to ten. In the parable
of the pounds, each servant received just one pound, but one servant increased his pound to ten.
Everyone should pray much along the line of his gift, then study along the same line to qualify for
the line of his calling. We should not become careless, or take an indifferent attitude as though it
were not our concern, but only the concern of the Holy Spirit, and if He wants to use us and bless
us He may do so. Every person called should try to secure the best training along the line of his
calling. To illustrate this truth: Let everyone called to be a missionary qualify himself to the best of
his own ability for the field to which he is called. In almost every case, every recipient of a call
knows the field in which he is to labor. The thing to do is to study his Bible well, become a qualified
speaker, make a study of the country where he is going, the geography, climate, industries, and
language. He should prepare himself as though everything depended on his preparation, then he
should study as though everything depended on his studying, and he should work as though his
success depended on his working, then he should pray as though his success depended entirely on
his praying, then believe God as though everything depended on his faith and God's undertaking.
When all of these steps are taken, God will do His part and that person will become a success in the
line of his calling. When a person is called to become an evangelist, he should do all he can to help
the Lord in that calling. In doing so, he should study and secure those books which will make him
more efficient, then pray and depend on the Holy Spirit to make him successful. Everyone called to
be a pastor should diligently study the Bible, take courses in Bible exposition, theology, homiletics,
pastoral theology, Sunday school work, and those subjects which will make him efficient and qualify
him for the pastoral office. And so with every line of the Lord's work. The person called should give
himself fully to his calling and strive to do his best with the help of the Lord to become a success,
to become more skillful in the employment of his gift, that he may become a greater blessing.
VII. The Holy Spirit Blesses the Exercise of Our Gifts
The Holy Spirit knows what gift He has given us and will bless us in the exercise of that gift. We
may always receive the blessing of God upon our labors and lives when we are obedient to our
calling. It has been well said, "The promises of God hang over the purposes of God." When we are
in the purpose of God, we may by faith appropriate the fulfillment of the promises of God upon our
efforts because there is promised to us sufficient grace and faith for the exercise of our gifts. It is our
privilege and God's will that we shall specialize in the line of our calling, and specialize in our
prayers for special success.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 16
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN BELIEVERS
God does not work independently of human instrumentality in saving lost men. God has only one
method for saving sinners and one method for winning them. God saves sinners through the
vicarious death of Christ, and He wins them through the victorious lives of Christians. It was
necessary for Christ to become a Man in order that He might die to save sinners. There is Deity and
humanity in heaven, and there is Deity and humanity on earth. God the Father in heaven works
through His Son, the glorified Man, Who is at His right hand. God the Holy Spirit, on earth works
through the believer. Even though the Holy Spirit is omnipotent, He does not work independently
of human instrumentality. Since the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, He is in every country, but He needs
missionaries, preachers, and workers to bring the gospel message to other men whom He may
convict and convert through faith in Christ and the gospel. Christ said, "When he is come, he will,"
that is, when He is come into the world and indwells the believers He will do it through the
believers. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit and does not possess a body. He must have a body through
which He can work when He works in relation to other men.
I. The Holy Spirit Leads into a Holy Life
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).
We should follow the Holy Spirit and let Him lead us in every detail of life, even as the disciples
followed Christ when He was on earth. The Holy Spirit convicts the sinner, and when the sinner
yields, He will lead him to Christ and into grace. The Holy Spirit leads the believer into holiness as
an experience and also as a practice. The Holy Spirit leads away from the world, from sin, and
ungodliness, into a life of holiness, and toward heaven. There is a great truth expressed in the song,
"God Leads Us Along." One stanza reads:
"Away from the mire and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along.
Away up m glory, eternity's day;
God leads His dear children along."
One of the characteristics of the child of God is that of being led by the Spirit. Truly the Spirit does
lead away from the mire and the clay, and would lead us to Christ, and into glory, and the eternal
day. He not only leads us into holiness as an experience and as a practice, but He gives us power to
live a holy life. Our part is to let Him lead us even as a parent takes the hand of a child and leads it
home.

II. The Holy Spirit Produces Fruit in Believers
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22, 23).
These graces are the product of the Spirit. It is the fruit of the Spirit; that is, it is His fruit, not our
fruit. He must produce it. Self cannot produce these graces. God the Father desires fruit. Christ
informed us that He is the true Vine, that His Father is the Husbandman, and that believers are the
branches. The husbandman desires fruit. It is the sap, the hidden life in the vine, which partakes of
the minerals of the soil through the roots, transmitting them into the vine and the vine into the
branches that produces the fruit. This beautifully illustrates the work of the Holy Spirit Who came
from God (the Husbandman), into Christ (the Vine), and then was released to dwell in believers (the
branches) who bear the fruit. He operates in the unseen, and the manifestation of His operations is
revealed in the believers by the fruit which He produces through them. He produces fruit, not fruits.
His fruit is love which is manifested in different manners. God is love, and all His doings are
prompted by love. This is true of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, and in a great measure should be true
of believers. When the fruit, the branches, the vine, the roots, and the soil are analyzed, we discover
that each is the same only subsisting in different forms. So God is love, and Christ is love, and the
believer is rooted and grounded in love. The Holy Spirit takes the virtues of God and of Christ and
transmits them to us. It is His desire to reproduce these graces in our lives.
III. The Holy Spirit Strengthens the Inner Man
"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man" (Eph. 3:16).
This strengthening results in becoming rooted and grounded in love. It helps the believer to
apprehend what is the breadth, length, height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ which
passeth knowledge, and to be filled with the fullness of God. The Holy Spirit strengthens the inner
man which benefits us in relation to God, to self, and to others. In relation to God, He makes the
believer strong in faith, in courage, and in endurance. He enables the believer to overcome Satan.
Then the Holy Spirit enables the believer to do all that God calls him to do. With the special calling
that comes from God, the Spirit gives the qualifications to fulfill that calling. Christ said, "But ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts
1:8). He enables the preacher to preach in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. (See I Cor.
2:1-5.)
In relation to self, He helps the inner man, that is, the spirit, to discipline the physical or outward
man to subject himself to His leadings, and to cheerfully fall in line with the will of God, though it
will cost privations, hardships, sacrifice, and sufferings to the flesh.
In relation to others, the Spirit will give wisdom, inspiration and power to enable the believer as
a worker to deal wisely with each individual. Every person in the church, from the least to the
greatest, the janitor, every member, and official up to the minister needs to be filled and led by the

Spirit that each one may be strengthened in the inner man. It is up to the inner man energized by the
Holy Spirit to bring the outer man into subjection and in line with the inner man and the Holy Spirit.
Such a person will become a ready and yielded instrument in the hands of the Spirit and will be
greatly used by Him.
IV. The Holy Spirit Brings the Word of God to Our Remembrance
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you"
(John 14:26).
For this reason every believer needs to be filled with the Spirit. The believer needs to read and
memorize the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit can wonderfully assist our heads as well as our hearts. He
can move upon our intellects and enlighten our minds as well as influence and inspire our hearts. The
Word of the Lord is the sword of the Spirit. Every Christian should be a devout student of the
Scriptures. This will aid the Spirit in bringing the Scriptures to his remembrance. How can the Spirit
bring a thing to our remembrance when we have never read or heard it? We should co-operate with
the Spirit on this line. Whenever we are in trouble, or in doubt, and know not what to do, or are
dealing with a soul and know not what to say, whether he be a sinner needing salvation, or a saint
needing spiritual enlightenment, it is our privilege to depend on the Holy Spirit to bring to us the
right Scripture which will enlighten us to do or to say the right thing.
V. The Holy Spirit Reveals to Us the Deep Things of God
"But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by
his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (I Cor. 2:9-10)
It is the Holy Spirit Who inspired the Scriptures to be written by moving holy men, giving them
His thoughts and His words. Since He is the divine Author of the Scriptures, and He inspired holy
men to write them, He can inspire someone else to expound them rightly to us which will also
greatly inspire our hearts. The Scriptures possess a high degree of inspiration which makes them
absolutely infallible. Holy men were inspired, that is, moved and carried along in their thoughts and
words which He gave them to write. This makes the Bible a verbally inspired book. This high degree
of inspiration ceased when the canon of the Scriptures was completed. It is folly for men today to
claim that their words and writings are on a par with the Scriptures.
We need the Holy Spirit in our lives to help us to love, appreciate, believe, and obey the
Scriptures. It has been related that a young lady once received a book as a gift. She picked the book
up and started to read it, but could not interest herself in the book. Several times she picked the book
up and started to read, and once she made the remark that it was the dullest story she had ever read.
In the course of time, she became engaged to a young man. One evening she said to him, "I have a
book in my library and the author's name and even his initials are the very same as yours. Is not this
a single coincidence?"

"I do not think so," he answered.
"Why not? Please tell me why this is not a coincidence."
"For the simple reason that I wrote the book. I am the author of the book."
That was news, and a revelation to her. After the young man left that evening, the young lady
picked the book up again and started to read. She became exceedingly interested and sat up until
after two o'clock reading it with great delight. She did not see one dry line in it, and it seemed to her
like a new book and the most interesting story that she had ever read. The book which was once dull
and uninteresting now became exceedingly fascinating because she came to know and love the
author. So it is with the Bible and the Holy Spirit. The Bible, to many is a dry ancient, dull book.
Some pick it up from a sense of duty and try to read it, but soon lay it down again without receiving
any benefit from it. When we come to know the Holy Spirit as the Author of the Scriptures and our
Comforter, Guide, and Teacher, and He Who reveals the deep things of God to us, we will read the
Bible with a holy delight and feed upon it as the living Word. It becomes our meat and drink.
VI. The Holy Spirit Imparts Ability To Appreciate More What He Does for Us
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words
which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness
unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. 2:12-14).
Without the aid of the Spirit, we are nearsighted and selfish. It is He Who makes the heavenly and
spiritual things real and valuable to us. He enables us to appreciate our Christian experience. When
He helps us to know the value of our Christian experience, the cost of our redemption, the value of
our inheritance in Christ, and the joys of the glories to come, that will establish the Christian in grace
enabling him to stand through all the trials and will give him such a fortitude in grace that he would
rather die than backslide and forfeit all these blessings. The reason some people backslide so easily
is, they have not been enlightened in regard to the cost of their salvation, the value of their Christian
experience, the value of their inheritance in Christ, and the glories to come. Some would rather
forfeit these blessings and enjoy the pleasures of sin and the world for a little season. The Holy Spirit
does not only impart to us the ability to appreciate what the Lord has done for us, but He also enables
us to appreciate what He does for others.
It is through the enlightenment and appreciation which the Spirit gives of Christian experience
and all that goes with it that enables us to endure, to hold on and to keep going on. One great
minister related that when his little daughter became old enough that she could go to the store by
herself, she begged her parents that she might do so. They gave her a few pennies which she clutched
in her little hand to purchase some candy. They cautioned her again and again to be careful to stop,
and look before crossing a street, and to allow passing cars to go by. She promised she would be
careful. In the excitement of the joy and the thrill of going by herself, she skipped along happily and
forgot to do as she had been instructed. She crossed a street without stopping, or looking, and a car

came around the corner which struck her and sent her rolling on the street. The driver stopped
suddenly and recognized the child, picked her up and drove to her home. The little one was
frightened more than she was hurt. As s he was carried in, the driver greatly apologized and
expressed his regrets, saying he could not help it for she ran in front of his car. Her father examined
her and asked where she had been hurt. She looked up into his face, held up her little fist, and said,
"Papa, I still have my pennies." She had clutched her pennies so tightly, that being knocked down
by a car did not cause her to lose them. Every Christian should lay hold on eternal life and never let
go until he safely lands on heaven's shore. We should do like Paul the Apostle, who committed the
safekeeping of his soul into the hands of the Lord, and laid hold on the things which the Lord
entrusted to him, even the Christian experience, and the call which the Lord gave him. This apostle
went through many sorrows and persecutions. Before his execution he said, "I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." When he was beheaded, he took the short
route to glory, and there in the presence of the Lord, he could say: "I have been persecuted,
imprisoned, imperiled, deserted, naked, hungry, cold, beaten many times, and now they have
beheaded me, but Lord, here is that which Thou hast given me. I have kept it." Nothing could knock
it out of him. The Spirit will enable us to keep that which God has given us.
VII. The Holy Spirit Imparts to Believers a Concern for the Spreading of the Gospel and the
Salvation of Souls
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth" (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit is not given to us for material profit and a selfish purpose. He has been sent into
the world for the purpose of gathering out the church, a people for Christ's name. He is doing this
through Spirit-filled believers who preach and evangelize in His power. When this purpose is
accomplished, He will gather out the church and present her to Christ. The Holy Spirit is
indispensable in evangelizing and winning souls. It is hard to conceive that anyone filled with the
Spirit does not possess a concern for the spreading of the gospel, or the salvation of the lost. Those
who do not have any concern, and do nothing to save the lost, greatly grieve the Spirit and lose the
joy out of their own hearts.
The Holy Spirit works in the world through the Christians who are filled with Him. If Christian
people could see this truth clearly, that is, how utterly the world is dependent on them for the gospel
message, and the Holy Spirit's convicting power, convicting sinners of sin through them, they would
yield themselves fully to Him to be clean and yielded channels through whom He could work. The
world has suffered and not been wrought on enough by the Holy Spirit because the church has been
unfaithful, unwilling, and unyielded to the Holy Spirit and His employment.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definite experience of which one may and ought to know.
Dr. R. A. Torrey, wrote concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit: "A man may be regenerated by
the Holy Spirit. In regeneration there is an impartation of life, and the one who receives it is saved;
in the baptism with the Holy Spirit there is an impartation of power and the one who receives it is
fitted for service."

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 17
THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR PRAYER LIFE
It is of great importance that we be filled with the Holy Spirit in relation to our prayer life.
Earnest, fervent, and effectual praying is one of the greatest and hardest tasks in Christian work. It
is a greater task to pray efficiently and persistently than it is to work, or to give. Many will labor,
sweat, and become tired at a task, but who will pray and sweat on his knees? It takes a heart that is
filled with the Spirit to pray efficiently, and effectively, even as it does for a preacher to preach
effectively. A preacher is not qualified to preach as he should until he is filled with the Spirit, neither
can any Christian be his best in prayer till he is filled with the Spirit.
I. The Holy Spirit Impels Believers To Pray
"And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom. 8:27).
Christ, our Saviour, is also our Great High Priest, Who ever liveth to make intercession for us,
yet at the same time, the Holy Spirit, in a very practical and profitable manner is our Intercessor.
Christ intercedes for us in heaven before the Father on the throne of grace while the Holy Spirit
intercedes within the believer on earth. The Holy Spirit frequently moves the believer to pray,
drawing him into the secret closet where "prayer is wont to be made." His operations on the believer,
urging him to make his request known to God is called "a spirit of prayer." When He does, great
issues are involved. It is then that the believer should co-operate with the Holy Spirit and yield
himself fully to His control, then the desired result of the Spirit and the saint will be accomplished.
II. The Holy Spirit Instructs Believers in Prayer
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we
ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom.
8:26).
The Christian is beset with infirmities. One of them is a prayer infirmity. The Holy Spirit has been
given to endue believers and make them efficient in their ministry. Paul wrote, "We know not what
we should pray for." This is very true. We think we know, but through our nearsightedness and
weakness, we are not able to determine what is best. We would ask for those things which are
pleasant, which would seem good, but which might not be best for us. However, the Spirit knows
what is best for us, what God wants to give us; therefore, He comes to our aid. He begets holy desires
within us for the very things God wants to give or do, or what others need. He helps us to pray, prays
in us, and through us. He inspires the desires, and the faith to grasp the promises, and causes faith
to leap up to God, which gets such a grip on God as to move Him to say "yes" to the petition,
because the Holy Ghost is in the believer, in the desire, in the petition, and in the faith.

III. The Holy Spirit Infuses Holy Desires in Believers
"The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26).
Praying in the Holy Ghost is not merely asking for the natural desires which arise from the mind
and expressing them in beautiful words. It is the Holy Ghost begetting holy desires within us, and
when these desires are cherished, He will intensify them. These desires come from God the Holy
Ghost, and when they are offered to God the Father in the name of Christ, that prayer will positively
go to God and be answered. The desires for such prayers must come from the Holy Ghost. Such
desires will express themselves in inexpressible words, and give expression in "groanings which
cannot be uttered." It is not the Spirit's groaning which cannot be uttered, but He begets within us
groanings which cannot be uttered by us. Those desires which are begotten and intensified by the
Spirit, when responded to by the believer, who earnestly wrestles with God in prayer, will be brought
to fruition by the Spirit.
IV. The Holy Spirit Increases Faith in God
"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal ... But all these worketh
that one and the selfsame Spirit" (I Cor. 12:7-11).
From Romans 12:6, we learn that grace and faith will be granted to the believer to fully exercise
the gift that has been given to him. The Holy Spirit is the great Dispenser of all things: grace,
salvation, gifts, power, and all that is essential to carry on the work of the Lord efficiently on earth.
All things are at His disposal. He imparts eternal life to all believers, distributes grace and gifts, and
regulates the exercise of them, and He gives wisdom, power, and ability to do all He calls anyone
to do. He does not do the believing for us, but when He begets holy desires within the heart, He will
also help the prayer to go through when the believer yields himself to Him and prays as He leads.
He will inspire the proper amount of faith so that the believer may have sufficient faith to meet the
divine demand for the petition to be granted.
V. The Holy Spirit Imparts Power to Believers in Prayer
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18).
The person who is filled with the Spirit will possess power with God and with men, particularly
to prevail with God in prayer. The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of grace and supplication." Supplications
mean earnest and fervent entreaties, or prayers. The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of supplication," that
is, the Spirit of prayer, and He imparts the spirit of prayer to believers. "Praying always with all
prayer" means that such praying has a prayer within a prayer. It is the prayer within the prayer that
goes through and is presented to God. The Holy Spirit supplies the power to send the prayer through.
It was the Holy Spirit Who inspired and qualified John Knox to pray, "O God, give me Scotland or
I die!" His prayers made the Queen of Scots tremble, and say that she feared the prayers of Knox
more than she feared an army. Martin Luther prayed three hours daily. This enabled him to face the
assembly known as the Diet of Worms in the power of the Spirit and boldly declare his belief, which
helped to shape the destiny of that nation for many generations. This power is not only for great men

and high church officials, but for all who will receive the Spirit. These may linger in the presence
of the Lord and intercede as long as the Spirit moves them to pray. It is He Who places the burden
on the heart; Who inspires intense desires, faith, and power in prayer, and if we will follow on, He
will take us down, under, on, through, up, and out again. Then He will give us a peaceful rest and
a comforting assurance that the petition will be granted. As Paul wrote, "We have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us," even so, it might be
said concerning the prayer power, we have this praying treasure in earthen vessels, that the
excellency of the power may be of the Spirit, and not of us.
VI. The Holy Spirit Inspires Praise as an Aid to Prayer
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess: but be filled with the Spirit: speaking to
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the
Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ" (Eph. 5:18-20).
The Holy Spirit has been given to help us to live the Christian life, and to efficiently serve the
Lord. The great concern of God for us is that we live according to the Scriptures. The Bible is the
Sword of the Spirit, that is, it is His sword, and He wills to employ it through us. He helps us and
makes it possible to live according to the Scriptures. It is when we are filled with the Spirit that we
can speak to ourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, sing and make a melody in our hearts
to God and give thanks always for all things. Then again, we are commanded, "in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6).
The Spirit aids us in meeting every divine demand essential to obtain answers to prayer. It is the
Spirit Who inspires praise as an aid to prayer. Prayer and praise are a splendid combination. They
are like the two wings of a bird. Both need to be employed in soaring up. There is a faith which asks,
and there is a faith which praises God for the things we have asked. When the prayer gives
expression to praise, it is a good sign we have prayed through.
VII. The Holy Spirit Induces Worship in Believers
"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).
"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3).
The Christian who hastens into the prayer closet, hurries to pray, rushes through, and hurries out
makes a sad mistake which grieves the Lord and hinders his prayers being answered. First, it requires
time to be holy, to pray, and wait on the Lord, and often to attain a right spirit of prayer. The
intercessor should bear in mind not to do all the talking, but give the Lord a chance to speak to him.
He also should wait on the Lord before praying, then frequently during the prayer season, and again
after he his through praying, listen to the voice of God. The time of waiting may be spent in
worshipful silence, in Bible reading, and in meditation, allowing the Lord to speak or to reveal His
will or Word. Such waiting during the prayer season is beneficial to the intercessor and pleasing to

the Lord, but this is not true worship. There may be and should be an element of worship in it, but
such a season is largely taken up with one's own or another's need.
True worship is not Bible reading, praying, singing, praising God, or giving. Worship is the soul
bowing before God in adoration and contemplation of God Himself. It is being taken up only with
the Lord Himself, and not with our needs, joys, blessings, nor those of others. This is what the Father
seeks and desires. The Holy Spirit directs our hearts in worship to God. In these seasons, the soul
bows before God, loves God, admires Him, and adores Him as the supreme One, Who is the fairest
of ten thousand to our soul and the One Who is altogether lovely. This pleases and satisfies God.
Worship that is in the flesh, or only in the natural falls short of pleasing God. In order to "worship
the Father in spirit and in truth," the Spirit must dwell in us and we in the Spirit, then He will enable
us to worship Him.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 18
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE MINISTER'S LIFE
The Lord did not rush the disciples out into the ministry and to go forth into all nations as soon
as He ascended. He told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high.
This "power from on high" would be to them "high power," which came upon them with the coming
of the Holy Spirit. Neither does the Lord rush anyone out into the ministry today without the
enduement. Every minister stands in need of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This baptism is
essential for the minister's experiential benefit. and also for the benefit of his ministry. Ministers
need to be very careful to honor the Spirit. Some dishonor Him by displaying their gifts, talents, wit,
foolishness, sensationalism, and spectacular methods. It is good to pray much, prepare well, then
depend on the Spirit to give success.
I. He Commissions Ministers To Preach
"As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2).
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath
made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" (Acts
20:28).
It is not left up to men to choose their own calling in life. We are not to choose our calling as a
woman chooses from a dozen bolts laid on the counter before her the pattern of dry goods which
strikes her fancy. The Holy Spirit knows the will of God and what the divine call is for each believer.
It is the Holy Spirit Who commissions ministers to preach. When He calls any person to preach or
to any special line of gospel work, He will make it known to him in some manner which will be
clearly understood by the person who has received a divine call
II. He Endues Ministers To Preach
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth" (Acts 1:8).
The prophet Zechariah wrote, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of
hosts." Every Christian worker should learn this secret. The human comes far short of the divine,
whether it be human wisdom, human power, or human ambitions. The minister who is not endued
with the Spirit, but rushes out into the ministry makes a great mistake in his life. He is not ready or
fully qualified to preach until he is endued. The Holy Spirit has been promised to every Christian

worker; and when he does not receive Him, he comes short of the divine command, and the divine
enduement.
One time a noted Englishman was being shown the magnificent Niagara Falls of America. As he
stood looking in amazement as the great volumes of water rolled over the great cataract, he
exclaimed, "Here is the greatest unused power in the world." His guide made a quick reply by saying,
"No, you are mistaken, the greatest unused power in the world is the power of the Holy Spirit." Every
careful Bible student will agree with this statement.
Today, every great scientist would say the greatest unused power is that of atomic energy, but
again the instructed and experienced Christian worker would say the greatest unused power in the
world today is the power of the Holy Spirit. Men may employ atomic bombs to bring peace to this
world; however, there is a greater power than atomic energy which brings peace, not through the
power of force, but of good will; and this power is the power of the Holy Spirit, which changes the
hearts of men, and makes them new creatures in Christ Jesus and endues them with power from on
high. This enables them to do right from their own free choice because they love the Lord. The
minister needs the power of the Holy Spirit upon his ministry to make it effective so that it will
produce conviction in sinners which will lead to repentance and faith in Christ.
C. H. Spurgeon said, "If we do not have the Spirit of God, it were better to shut the churches, to
nail up the doors, to put a black cross on them, and say: 'God have mercy on us. If you ministers have
not the Spirit of God, you had better not preach; and you people had better stay at home. I think I
speak not too strongly when I say that a Church in the land without the Spirit of God is rather a curse
than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in
somebody else's way; you are as a tree bearing no fruit standing where some fruitful tree might grow.
This is solemn work. Death and condemnation to a Church that is not yearning after the Spirit, and
crying and groaning until the Spirit has wrought mightily in her midst. He is here. He has never gone
back since He descended at Pentecost. He is often grieved and tried, for He is peculiarly jealous and
sensitive, and the one sin never forgiven has to do with His blessed Person. Therefore, let us be very
tender toward Him, walk humbly before Him, wait on Him very earnestly, and resolve that about us
there shall be nothing knowingly continued which should prevent His dwelling in us."
III. He Directs Ministers Where To Preach
"Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot" (Acts 8:29).
"While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise
therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them" (Acts 10:19,
20).
Sometimes pastors and evangelists are puzzled as to where they should preach and labor, for
several openings may present themselves at the same time. The Spirit-filled preacher cannot be
choicy, partial, or personal, and decide for himself. The determining factor in selecting the place
cannot be that of the highest salary, the greatest church, or the best parsonage. He needs to depend
on the Holy Spirit to direct him where to go. The Spirit will direct him by adding a luster and a glow

in the right decision, and cause things to look vague and hazy and minus a joy in the contemplation
of the wrong decision. The Spirit directed Philip where to go in order to make contact with the
Ethiopian eunuch. It was made very clear to Simon Peter that he should go to the house of Cornelius
in Caesarea. The Spirit also restrained and forbade Paul to preach in Asia Minor, and then made it
very clear to him that he should go into Macedonia, even into a new continent to preach the gospel
to those who had never heard. Every minister should depend on the Holy Spirit as to where He wants
him to labor.
IV. He Directs Ministers Where Not To Preach
"Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of
the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into
Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts 16:6, 7).
The Holy Spirit knows where the minister should not go even as well as He does where he should
go. The Spirit is able to close doors and to make certain fields and places of labor to look gloomy,
vague, and hazy to the minister. Sometimes ministers make mistakes in choosing their field of labor,
because they have not depended upon the leading of the Holy Spirit, but have followed their own
personal leadings. When it comes to the work of the Lord, whatever it may be, the wise Christian
worker will always lay his own personal feelings or preferences aside in honor of the leadings of the
Spirit. Many have made mistakes in following their own inclinations which have led to defeat,
sorrow, and a limited ministry.
V. He Instructs Ministers What To Preach
"Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (I Cor. 2:13).
One of the great delights in a minister's life is that of the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The
minister should depend on the Spirit as to what to preach for each occasion. The Holy Spirit will
direct the minister along this line, either by directing him to a certain text, a certain line of truth, or
by giving a gist of the message. A minister may consider different sermons or texts, but when they
are not the Spirit's choice there is no inspiration, joy, blessing, or divine glow on the sermon, or the
text. When the right choice has been made, He will give divine inspiration and add a divine glow on
the text and the line of truth that is under consideration. He will also reveal His own will to the
minister, until he becomes greatly enthused and inspired while he is preparing his message.
VI. He Speaks in and Through Ministers
"Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the
mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus" (Acts
1:16).
"Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when
it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was

evealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven; which things the angels desire to look into" (I Peter 1:11, 12).
From the Scriptures, we learn that God has spoken to many through one of His servants more than
He has spoken to individuals directly. When God gives a message to a minister, he becomes the
mouthpiece to the entire congregation, and the Lord speaks through him to many as positively as if
He had spoken directly to every individual. People should receive the message of God's Spirit-filled
minister as the message of the Lord, and as truly as if they heard the message given in an audible
voice from heaven.
VII. He Witnesses to the Preaching of the Gospel
"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me
no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (John 16:8-11).
"Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us" (Heb. 10:15).
Christ said when the Holy Spirit would come He would convict the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. The way the Holy Spirit does this is through the Spirit-filled minister. The Holy
Spirit Who indwells the minister, and accompanies the message of truth will make it very effective
and powerful. Such preaching searches the heart and lingers in the memory of people. They cannot
forget it, or shake it off. It will bring gospel light to them, and through it the Holy Spirit brings
conviction to the sinner. The special work of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness to Christ Who is the
Truth. Christ said, "The Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and
ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning" (John 15:26, 27). In
Acts 5:32, we read, "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost." The
believer and the Holy Ghost are witnesses. The testimony, or witnessing is not confined to the
believer, neither is it confined to the Spirit, but there needs to be the witnessing of both the believer
and the Spirit. The testimony of the Christian alone is not sufficient, neither the testimony of the
Scriptures, but it is our testimony in harmony with the testimony of the Word which the Spirit
witnesses to or uses which is effective. Sinners will not be convicted and believe through our
testimony unless the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth. A worker may explain the truth to a sinner over
and over, yet he does not see the truth, neither believes, but all at once he sees and believes the truth
because the Spirit has borne witness to Christ and the truth.
The Spirit moves on sinners (the world) through believers. If Christian people would but realize
how absolutely the world is dependent on them for gospel light, and on the other hand how
dependent they are on the Holy Spirit's power in them to qualify them to witness to sinners, they
would seek His indwelling and pray to be an open channel through whom the Spirit would operate
in an unhindered manner. Sinners are not being witnessed to, nor illuminated by gospel light as their
needs demand because Christian people are failing to witness and appropriate the power of the Holy
Ghost. Ministers should depend more on the Spirit in their ministry if they want men to see the truth
and believe in Christ.

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 19
CLEAN UNCOMMON MEN
"What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common" (Acts 10:15).
God has designed that the saved and sanctified person shall be clean and uncommon. Far too
many people are only common and unclean. In the incident of Peter and Cornelius, it was essential
for God to work at both ends of the line in order to bring both men together, for Peter was a Jew and
Cornelius a Gentile. An angel appeared to Cornelius, informing him that he should call for Simon
Peter to come to his house and he would more fully explain the way of salvation to him. On the other
hand, the Lord had to prepare Peter and make him willing and ready to go to the house of a Gentile.
While Peter was praying on the housetop, a vision appeared to him, that of a vessel descending to
him, as it had been a great sheet being let down to the earth, wherein were all manner of beasts,
creeping things, and fowls. A voice said, "Rise, Peter; kill, and eat." Peter said, "Not so, Lord; for
I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean." The voice informed him, "What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common." This sheet descending from heaven full of unclean creatures,
which had been cleansed by God, represents the church. The church had its origin in heaven, and its
destiny will be heaven. The church is being formed of peoples from all lands, tongues and tribes,
which have been cleansed by God. Peter went with the men who were sent by Cornelius and
preached to him and his household. As he preached, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them, sanctifying
every one. Later, Peter said that God gave them the Holly Ghost and purified their hearts by faith.
Some people stress the power and others stress the cleansing in the baptism with the Holy Ghost.
Both are to be appreciated, accepted, and believed, for they are the twofold work of the Lord in the
baptism with the Spirit.
I. The Commonness of People
When anything has become customary, usual, familiar, or of general occurrence, practice, and
standard, that makes it common. Common, implies the lack of distinguishing, conspicuous, or
exceptional qualities. It suggests that which is usual and ordinary. Most people are common because
they desire to be like others, do like others do, live like others live, act like others act, dress like
others dress, and justify themselves that they are just as good as others, do as much as others do, give
as much as others give, all because that is the way everybody else does. They compare themselves
among themselves and measure themselves among themselves and rise no higher than others rise.
People are influenced too much by that which others do, and give no special reason for it only that
"everybody does it."
II. The Causes for Commonness
A spirit of fear has cheated many out of becoming unique, extraordinary, great, and aggressive.
Their fearing what others think of them has defeated them from forging ahead. A lack of

consecration is another cause for commonness. Very few lives are fully consecrated, fully yielded
to God. They feel that their lives are their own, that they can live as they please. Then, many are
unwilling to be different and strive to be like all that are common. There is another reason, and that
is, not being filled with the Holy Spirit. He cleanses, empowers, leads, comforts, blesses, and
inspires, thus making everyone different, and willing to go farther with God than others go, and to
be original.
III. The Dangers of Being Common
There are many dangers all around us, dangers on the road, in the home, in the factory, on the
land, in the air, and on the sea. The one great danger which faces more people than any other danger
is that of just being common. It robs people of originality, uniqueness, leadership, and
distinctiveness. It hinders them from entering into the plan of God for their lives. God has a plan and
a place for every life. Every life is a fresh thought from God. There are no two faces alike, no two
voices exactly alike, but each one is different. Commonness robs people of initiativeness and
progress. It hinders them from rising higher than those around them, from going farther than others
go, from accomplishing more than others accomplish, from blessing and inspiring others. It brings
a self-satisfaction and a self-justification. These people will die some day, be missed little and soon
forgotten, and be just like multitudes who have come and gone the way of all the earth.
IV. The Uncommon Men of the Bible
All of the great men of the Bible were radically different from the common men of their day. If
they had been but common and ordinary, and had not stemmed the tide or stepped forth and forged
ahead, but had been like millions of others, we would not have heard of them.
Enoch was very uncommon. He walked with God. In this he was alone. He was different in his
walk, conduct, and faith, and in his earthly termination. He obeyed, believed, and pleased God. Noah
was different, clean, and uncommon. He was perfect in his generation; therefore, he found favor with
God, built an ark, and saved his entire house. Abraham was uncommon and he became a pilgrim and
stranger on earth and also the Friend of God. Joseph was uncommon, and by being different, he
became a great blessing. Moses was different, unique, and uncommon. He made choices, which for
the time being seemed foolish; but time has proven that he glorified God and obtained more honor
than any mummified Pharaoh. David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and John the Baptist were different
and uncommon, but they were unique and greatly glorified God. As we consider all of the great men
of history, we will learn they were vastly different from the multitudes around them.
V. The Curse of Carnality
All children are born with a fallen, a sinful nature. In this they are helpless and irresponsible;
however, the Lord has provided a remedy for deliverance from carnality, and all who do not avail
themselves of the provision made for them become responsible before God. The Bible designates
carnality by different terms, such as, "the body of sin," "the carnal mind," "the root of bitterness,"
"the old man" and "the body of death." Theologians term it as "inbred sin," "the Adamic nature," and
"the carnal nature." Paul writes, "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the

law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7). Since the carnal mind is enmity to God and opposed
to holiness, is not subject to God, but is subject to Satan, sin and worldliness, it becomes a great
hindrance and a curse to the one possessed by it. It hinders, suppresses, defeats, blights, and retards
Christian experience.
VI. The Cleansing and the Capacity of the Heart
The human heart has a tremendous capacity for motives, desires, will, ambitions, and possessions.
The capacity is so great that the entire world could neither fill its longings (although it is twenty-five
thousand miles in circumference and eight thousand miles in diameter), nor satisfy its desires. The
Lord speaking through the prophet Isaiah said, "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my
footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest" (Isa. 66:1). It
certainly would take a great house to enclose God. The capacity of the heart is so great and its
longings so deep, that only a holy God Whose throne is in heaven, and Whose footstool is this earth
can fill and satisfy it fully. The Holy Spirit can take Christ and enthrone Him in the throne room of
our hearts. The Holy Spirit also can reside in us, fill, and control every desire, motive, ambition, and
carry out God's plan for our lives.
In the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the inner man, the heart, and the nature are cleansed. The
purifying of the heart (the very center of the moral being around which the spiritual life revolves)
affects the entire inner man. Then there will not only be a clean heart, but a clean mind, clean eyes,
a clean tongue, clean hands, feet, etc., with clean desires, motives, and ambitions. Such a cleansed
person will become very uncommon.
VII. The Capabilities of the Spirit-filled
When the Holy Spirit comes to take up His abode with a Christian, He most certainly makes His
residence in the spirit and spiritual nature. The Holy Spirit has affinity for every believer. The human
spirit has the capacity for His indwelling. The Holy Spirit moves the spirit in man and works from
the inside to the outside. He moves and employs our spirit and He longs to employ the will, desires,
heart, and mind. These need to be yielded completely to Him. When He moves the spirit, then the
spirit or the inner man should co-operate with Him by allowing Him to utilize the heart, mind, hands,
feet, tongue, and our time. The Holy Spirit does not possess a body. It is our body He desires to
employ through the control of our spirit. He employs the human spirit (pneuma, Gr.), then the spirit
of man enlightens the mind, and the soul (anima, L.) energizes the body (corpus, L.). When the spirit,
soul, and body are under His control, and are yielded to Him, obey and co-operate with Him, He
accomplishes His purpose. It is He Who moves our spirit, which moves the soul, which moves the
body, then when all move, there is operation and co-operation. This is the manner in which He works
through believers while they are living in their physical bodies. The Holy Spirit needs our bodies as
well as our spirits. People now have material bodies, but when they are deceased there is no way of
communicating the gospel to them, nor is there any hope for their salvation. It is only while Christian
people dwell in their physical bodies that they can deal with sinners who also dwell in their physical
bodies. No living person can communicate or contact a deceased person, neither can a deceased
person contact or deal with a living person. Only the living can help the living. God's ordained
method for saving sinners is by the Holy Spirit employing saved people to reach lost people. The

Holy Spirit will not do it by Himself, and we cannot do it by ourselves, but He does it through
believers. The body of man as well as his spirit must be in the employ of the Holy Spirit in dealing
with sinners who are in the body. The Holy Spirit employs those who are clean. The capabilities of
the Spirit-filled enlarge as they grow and develop. He keeps them filled and employed. As their
understanding of His will and methods increase, the more efficient they may become in His employ.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 20
THE SEVEN C'S OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Many numbers in the Bible are significant and have symbolical meanings attached to them. Seven
is one of the most significant numbers in the Bible. It is a divine number and denotes perfection,
completion or a fullness. There is a perfection in God, in all of His attributes, His manifestations,
and operations. This age is peculiarly the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Son are
at work in heaven, and the Holy Spirit and Christians are at work on this earth. The specific work
of the Holy Spirit in this age is to get the church, or the bride of Christ ready for the coming of the
Lord. It should be the desire of every person to fall in line with the Holy Spirit and co-operate with
Him as He operates.
I. The Holy Spirit Convicts the Sinner
The Holy Spirit might be considered as the holy Policeman of the skies Who apprehends and
arrests the sinner. He is faithful to apprehend every sinner whether he attends church services or not.
He overtakes all and His method of operation on the sinner is to convict him of his sins. Conviction
is not a pleasant experience, but it will lead to great blessings if the sinner will yield to the conviction
of the Spirit. Conviction is definitely the work of the Holy Spirit. No minister can convict a sinner.
He may convince a sinner of his lost state if the latter wills to believe the truth, but it remains for the
Spirit to do the convicting. Every sinner should cherish the conviction of the Spirit, surrender to
Him, and submit his case into His hand, then allow the Spirit to lead him out of sin to the Lord.
Our duty as Christians is to live holy lives and preach the Word, then depend on the Holy Spirit
to produce conviction. We cannot do it of ourselves and will fail if we try. Though we cannot do it
without Him, on the other hand, let us remember, He will not do it without the Christians, but do it
through them.
II. The Holy Spirit Converts the Confessor
The part of the sinner who is convicted by the Holy Spirit is to confess his sins to the Lord, plead
guilty, and confess that he is lost. This will lead to hope for him, for the Spirit convicts with the
purpose to convert the sinner. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce the new birth. He is the
One Who imparts spiritual life to the sinner when he has confessed his sins and believed in Christ.
The Spirit knows when the right conditions have been met by the sinner and when to convert him.
The sinner will learn that the promise is true, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins."

III. The Holy Spirit Cleanses the Believer
The condition the confessor must meet in order to become converted is faith. When faith operates,
the Spirit also operates and the new birth is produced, then that person is classed with the believers.
Salvation is obtained through faith and retained through faith. After regeneration the believer
becomes a candidate for the baptism with the Spirit. Before a person can be baptized with the Spirit
he must be born of the Spirit. This truth is beautifully illustrated in the birth and anointing of Christ.
Christ, in the incarnation was born in the flesh by the Spirit. Later Christ was anointed, or filled with
the Spirit. Baptism bears the thought of cleansing, but since Christ was born holy and sinless, He did
not need a cleansing. When the Spirit came upon Him and filled that which He wrought in the
incarnation, He was anointed with the Spirit. Since all people are born in sin and have a sinful nature,
and this nature is not eliminated in the new birth, it is essential that they be baptized with the Spirit
in order to be cleansed and endued. Peter, in testifying to the work which God wrought in the house
of Cornelius when the Holy Spirit fell on all of them, said that God purified their hearts by faith.
Everyone born of the Spirit is a candidate to be baptized with the Spirit. The Spirit desires to fill the
believer; or that capacity which He created in the new birth.
IV. The Holy Spirit Comforts the Christian
The Holy Spirit is the "another Comforter." Christ was "the Comforter" to His disciples. He was
with them and led, instructed, and comforted them. Before He left, He told His disciples He would
send them another Comforter. The Holy Spirit, the "another Comforter" will comfort Christians even
as Christ comforted the disciples when He was on earth. The trials, tests, and sorrows of a Christian
are many in this world. The Christian has been born from above; therefore, He becomes a pilgrim
and stranger in this world. As soon as he becomes converted a great conflict begins. Salvation incites
satanic hatred and a spiritual conflict. The believer often feels lonely in the world and needs comfort.
The Holy Spirit is the "another Comforter" Who takes the things of Christ and reveals them to him.
He also makes heaven real and a bright hope to the Christian.
V. The Holy Spirit Calls the Worker
It was the Holy Spirit Who said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have
called them." The Holy Spirit needs workers who will work in the vineyard of the Lord. It is He Who
calls people to their respective places in the plan of the Lord. He tells them what to do and where to
go. It is He Who divides the gifts to believers. With whatever gift He bestows upon each believer,
He will also dispense the right measure of grace and divine love and the abilities to perform the
service He calls each to do. Every worker should depend upon the Spirit to qualify him for his life's
work and fully yield himself to the Spirit for His employment in that work.
VI. The Holy Spirit Commentates to Pupils
It is God the Father Who seeks worshippers, and it is Christ Who seeks sinners, but it is the Holy
Spirit Who seeks believers whom He may fill. He desires that all believers yield themselves to Him
as pupils. One of His ministries is to teach Christian pupils. He leads and guides and will do more
than this, even as Christ said, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will

send in my name, he shall teach you all things" (John 14:26). It is a great privilege for every believer
to submit himself as a pupil to the Holy Spirit, and it is great pleasure to the Holy Spirit to become
his Teacher. Many preachers depend upon their training, books, commentaries, and their own
wisdom. This is very good as far as it goes, but it comes far short of what the preacher should be. All
preachers and Christians should depend more on the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ, the Bible, the
realities of the unseen, and the coming glories to them. The Holy Spirit is the best Commentator on
the Bible, Christian experience, and a successful ministry.
The Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher. We cannot truly know the truth about God, the Bible, and
salvation as we should know it until we have been taught by the Spirit. Though we should go to
school Ml of our lives and be taught by the best instructors, and give ourselves to diligent study, yet
these could not give us all the help and truth we need to know apart from the teaching of the Holy
Ghost. A thorough study of the Hebrew language cannot reveal those things the Holy Spirit can teach
us. To be taught by the Spirit will enable us to know the truth of God better than we can learn it from
any other source.
VII. The Holy Spirit Catches Up the Bride
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to get the bride of Christ. There will be a select number to make
up every member of His body, and certain qualifications must be met to meet the divine
requirements. God the Father is very particular who shall become the bride for His Son. Even as
Abraham sent his devoted and faithful servant with a solemn charge to get a bride for his son Isaac,
so the Spirit has been sent into this world to get the bride for Christ. Abraham stipulated that the
bride had to be one from among his own kindred, so the bride of Christ will be selected from among
the redeemed. All was placed at the disposal of Eliezer to secure her, so all is at the disposal of the
Holy Spirit to get the bride of Christ. The servant was successful in his mission and secured a
beautiful and virtuous damsel for Isaac. The Holy Spirit possesses infinite power, all gifts and graces,
and He too, will be successful in securing a bride for Christ. He will accomplish what He came into
the world to do. As Abraham's servant requested the next morning not to be hindered because the
Lord had prospered his journey, and that he might be sent away in order to go to his master, and
present the bride to his master's son, so the Holy Spirit, upon completion of His task will instantly
catch up and rapture the bride. He then will present her to Christ. Then His peculiar ministry and
special work for this age will be completed. Every believer should become attached to Christ and
live detached from the world, fully yielding himself into the hands of the Holy Spirit, as Rebekah
yielded herself to Abraham's servant, who took her and went his way. If the Holy Spirit can have His
way in a person's life, He will present him without spot or wrinkle to the Lord.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 21
AN UNCTION FROM THE HOLY ONE
"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things" (I John 2:20).
Little is said concerning unction. Whenever preachers speak of unction, they generally say it is
indefinable. The term "unction" in the New Testament is employed only once in the authorized
version, but the same Greek word is translated "anointed" twice. Unction simply means an anointing.
There are several types of anointing: one type means to smear or daub; another, pouring of oil, and
a third type rubbing in. Unction is an anointing of the "rubbing in" type. Anointing was a general
practice in the East. It dates back to an early date. It is claimed that it originated in seeking relief
from the effects of the sun, or sunburn. Common vegetable or animal fat was used. As society
advanced and refinement became a part of civilization, delicately perfumed ointments were used.
People were anointed for health; as a mark of hospitality, for special honor; as a preparation for
social occasions, and to initiate into offices of responsibility and dignity. Jacob poured oil on the
stone he had used for his pillows. The place where he had slept and where God came into his life
became sacred to him. Priests and prophets were anointed by oil being poured on their heads. The
kings were recognized as the "the Lord's anointed," and this term became a synonym for "king." The
Hebrews believed that the anointing effected a transference of the holiness and virtue of Deity, and
the impartation of a special endowment of the Spirit of the Lord to the anointed one. There could be
but little progress in the world without oil. If there were no oil, there could be no operation of
automobiles, trains, airplanes, ships or factories. Oil is one of the great elements which God has
given to the human race. It is a blessing and a necessity. The Holy Spirit is symbolized by oil. What
oil is to the material world, the Holy Spirit is in the spiritual world. Without Him no progress could
be made. Where the Holy Spirit is not recognized or desired, all church activities are dry and formal.
I. An Unction Gives Power to the Spiritual Machinery and Oils the Wheels
The prophet Zechariah said, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." If we,
like Zechariah, could learn this truth, it would prove a great blessing to us which would lead us to
depend more upon the Holy Spirit. Self, apart from the Spirit, avails nothing. This also is true
concerning human skill, wisdom, power, and planning. These all come short of accomplishing
anything for the Lord. Oil relieves friction, keeps the machinery from overheating, and causes the
machinery to run smoothly. Without the Spirit in the believer, or in groups of believers, their
operations and contacts will create friction, but where He is present, honored, and recognized, all
will run smoothly and harmoniously.
II. An Unction Gives Divine and Human Recognition
Christ was sent into the world by the Father, and all who did not recognize Him were rejected by
the Father, because no one can come to the Father except through the Son. Since Christ ascended,

and the Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit into the world as the Executive of the Godhead
in this age, all who reject the Spirit and His operations will be rejected by the Son and the Father.
God does not recognize those who reject the Spirit and His operations; however, on the other hand,
those who receive the divine unction of the Spirit, also receive the divine recognition of the Father
and the Son upon their lives and ministry. Saul was anointed with oil, which symbolized an unction,
and an unction gave him the zeal of God and also the divine recognition as God's anointed king.
When the Spirit departed from Saul he lost the divine recognition. When David was anointed to
become king over Israel, he also received the divine recognition as God's anointed and appointed
king. When we have the divine recognition on our lives, it gives us the right to come to the Lord to
seek His divine favor, wisdom, and power in the accomplishment of His will for our lives. An
unction not only gives us a divine recognition, but it also gives us a human recognition. When a
person undertakes to do a thing for the Lord without the divine unction upon him, he does not
receive the recognition of men as one possessing power with God and men. After Saul was anointed
king, some people in Israel said: "How shall this man save us? And they despised him." Then God
wrought a great victory through him, and all men had to recognize that he was God's choice. The
same was true concerning David, who was despised by his brothers and disdained by Goliath;
nevertheless, the occasion came when there was a public manifestation of the divine anointing on
him, in which all people of Israel, the Philistines, and even his brothers had to recognize that the
anointing rested on him. Satan also recognizes the divine anointing upon the individual. Paul, who
had the unction of the Spirit upon his life, commanded demons in the name of Christ to come out
of those whom they possessed, and they obeyed. There were seven sons of Sceva that did not possess
the unction from the Holy One. They commanded an evil spirit to come out of one that was
possessed; however, the demon did not recognize these seven sons who lacked the unction;
consequently the possessed man leaped upon them, tore their clothes off, and beat them so severely
that they fled.
III. An Unction Gives Liberty in the Lord
The apostle Paul wrote that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. The Spirit in one person
does not oppose or contradict the Spirit in another person. Self sometimes may get in the way and
hinder spiritual liberty when there is a failure to recognize the operations of the Spirit in other
people. Liberty is not the privilege to do as one pleases, but it gives a calmness and a peaceful feeling
in doing that which is right. Liberty is the freedom to do right, in the right place, at the right time in
the right manner. It is safe to move when the Spirit gives us the signal to go, and dangerous not to
do so, even as it is dangerous to go when He has flashed the red signal across our pathway. The
Spirit will give us courage and liberty to do that which the Lord wants us to do.
IV. An Unction Gives Spiritual Power
It is essential in the Christian life and the Christian ministry to possess both a human fervor and
a spiritual fervor. A natural fervor apart from the fervor of the Spirit is merely self, and will rise no
higher than self. It comes short of accomplishing spiritual good. When the Spirit brings a fervor to
us and we do not cooperate with His operations, or move as He moves us, the fervor will soon cool
off. When the Spirit brings a spiritual fervor, we need to bestir ourselves and fall in line. Obedience
will increase the fervor because the divine element enters into the human and the human into the

divine; and that will make our plans, sermons, songs, and testimonies, fervent and inspiring. The
Spirit is symbolized by fire, and it is He who creates a spiritual warmth, which is energizing and
invigorating.
V. An Unction Gives a Gumption
In the employment of this term in the common conversation it means spunk, ambition, aggression,
and quick action. However, the real meaning of the word is that of discernment, shrewdness,
wisdom, common sense, and an initiativeness. When we are anointed with the Spirit, He can place
within us "a holy spunk," and a "holy go." He also gives to us the sense of discernment and
shrewdness whereby we may by His wisdom outwit sin and Satan. Then an unction will give to us
an initiativeness which is needed so much by every Christian if he ever becomes useful for the Lord.
Many people need an unction from the Holy One to lead them out of the ruts in which they live.
Many, for fear of making a blunder, and thinking they cannot succeed, never become active and
aggressive in prayer, testimony, personal work, or an active life for the Lord. These need to receive
an unction from the Lord, which will also give them a holy gumption, setting them free so that it will
be easy to push out, to undertake things for the Lord, to attempt to do great things for the Lord.
VI. An Unction Gives Spiritual Tenderness
The Holy Spirit is very tender, patient, and loving. When He comes to dwell, and we yield
ourselves completely to Him, He gives us His virtues and qualities. He desires to live in and through
us, and to manifest His qualities in our conduct and labors. We never read of the anger of the Holy
Spirit; however, because of His great love and tenderness, He is very easily grieved. Every person
needs the graces of love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, and tenderness. These are the product of the
Spirit. Without this tenderness, men are cold, harsh, set, and cynical. This limits them in their
usefulness. The tenderness wrought by the Spirit is a most essential element in the ministry of
dealing with other people.
VII. An Unction Gives a Heavenly Fragrance
The holy anointing oil which was compounded by Moses to anoint Aaron was very highly
perfumed. The Lord gave Moses the formula for compounding the holy anointing oil. It was very
fragrant to the sense of smell. This gave the high priest, the priests, and everyone anointed with this
oil a fragrance which was very easily discerned by everyone in their presence. Since God places
within many flowers which bloom one day and perish the next, a sweetness, a beauty, and a
fragrance which are most pleasing to the senses of sight and smell, surely He desires to place within
every Christian who will live forever, those fragrant life. This is the work the Holy Spirit desires to
accomplish in the believer.
As in the Old Testament types, the blood always preceded the oil except in the case of the high
priest so in Christian experience the blood must be applied first, that is, the experience of the new
birth, which is regeneration, always precedes the experience of sanctification, or the baptism with
the Spirit. In the case of the high priest, he was anointed with oil before he received the application

of the blood, which very beautifully illustrates the anointing of Christ with the Holy Spirit by the
Father before He shed His blood on the cross.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 22
THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A TEACHER
When Christ was on earth, He was the world's greatest Teacher. He taught His disciples many
things. Before He left He said, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now." The reason the disciples could not bear those things was because the time had not yet come
and because they were incapacitated to receive them. However, the disciples became capacitated
when the Holy Spirit came on them on the day of Pentecost. Even so it is today, all who are not
baptized with the Spirit are greatly incapacitated to receive all that the Lord would like to give to
them. The Holy Spirit is just as qualified to teach us as was Christ when He was on earth.
I. He Reveals the Future
"And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen
the Lord's Christ" (Luke 2:26).
The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would see Christ before his death. By the intuition of
the Holy Spirit, Simeon was led to the temple the very day Christ was brought to the priest to be
presented to the Lord. In being led by the Spirit, he arrived there at the right moment. He had
received Christ into his heart, then as he received Him into his arms, he was greatly blessed and he
blessed God and Mary, but he did not bless Christ (though He was an infant only forty days old in
the flesh), because the lesser is blessed by the greater. Simeon could not bless Christ, for Christ was
infinitely greater than he, but Christ did bless Simeon and his heart was consoled.
Agabus was a prophet who was led by the Spirit. He took Paul's girdle and bound himself with
the same and said, "Thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that
owneth this girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles" (Acts 21:11), and so it came
to pass. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives premonitions and warnings of things to come which enable
the Christian to be on his guard and prepared for the coming emergency.
II. He Guides Into All the Truth
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to
come" (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit not only reveals things to us, points them out, or tells them to us, but He Himself
goes along as we go and guides us into the truth. He not only shows us the way, but He becomes the
way, leading us into His way.

One time a child was lost and inquired the way home. He was informed which way to go: a
number of blocks straight on, then several blocks to the left, and after that several blocks to the right.
This was showing him the way. A policeman came along and said, "Come with me and I will take
you to your home." He not only told the child the way, but he became the way and went with him
all the way. So does the Holy Spirit to believers. He not only guides, but He goes with them all the
way. We need to become very sensitive to His leadings.
Some time ago two miners became lost in a mine because their lamps went out. They could not
find their way out without some help. One miner said, "The breeze draws toward the opening of the
mine; let us sit still and observe which way the wind blows, then we will follow it." They sat
perfectly still and waited for a long time. Finally one miner said, "I have felt it." The other one said,
"I didn't feel it. Which way did the breeze blow?" He answered, "This way. Come, let us follow its
course." He did and they were led to the opening of the mine.
In order to be guided into all truth, we need to wait and become perfectly still before the Spirit,
expecting the heavenly breeze to influence and direct us in the way we should go.
III. He Reveals the Things of Christ
"He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you" (John 16:14).
The Holy Spirit was infinitely acquainted with Christ, and He intelligently knows the purposes
of the Lord. He dwelt in Christ and has been released to come back into the world to dwell in the
believers. He takes the virtues and the qualities of Christ and imparts them to us. He desires to
reproduce the life of Christ in and through us. One of the great ministries of the Holy Spirit is to
reveal the things of Christ to us. No one is as well qualified to make Christ real to us as He. He can
give us such a glorious vision of Christ that He will become the fairest One of ten thousand to our
soul and the One Who is altogether lovely. He is able to reveal Christ to us so gloriously that we
shall never cease to love Him, nor ever forsake Him, but be like many who have gone on before us,
who were faithful even unto death and chose a martyr's death because they loved Christ. Many
people fail and fall because they do not depend on the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ to them. To them
He means little more than any other person, and when trials come, they will forsake their Saviour
and fail to walk with Him. It is the privilege of all Christians to depend on the Holy Spirit, asking
Him to reveal Christ to them and that He will show the things of Christ to them, until their souls will
become so ravished and captivated by the love of Christ that it will constrain them to be faithful to
Him at any cost.
IV. He Brings the Words of Christ to Our Remembrance
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you"
(John 14:26).
The Holy Spirit not only can help our hearts and make them pure and holy, but He can also help
our minds and our thinking, and direct them in right channels. He can help our heads as well as our

hearts. We should read the Scriptures carefully to know what Christ has said, then in time of need
depend on the Holy Spirit to bring to our remembrance the right Scripture which will help us in
making the right decisions, or in taking the right steps. The Holy Spirit is not only a great
Psychologist, but He is the greatest Teacher in the world. Every Christian makes a great mistake and
falls far short of his privileges in Christian experience who does not depend upon the Holy Spirit as
his Teacher. Many people have been greatly blessed and made to marvel in times of crisis at the help
the Holy Spirit gave them by bringing to their remembrance the right Scripture which helped them
to do the right thing.
V. He Enables Ministers To Teach
"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the
same Spirit" (I Cor. 12:8).
Not only is the Holy Spirit the world's greatest Teacher, but to certain ones He gives the gift of
teaching. Teaching is a great ministry and a great gift. No one is fully qualified to teach the
Scriptures who has not been baptized with the Spirit and been given the divine gift to teach. The gift
of teaching does not merely include the possession of knowledge, but specifically the ability to so
instruct as to be able to impart knowledge to others.
VI. He Directs the Decisions of the Church
"For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things" (Acts 15:28).
Without the aid of the Holy Spirit, many church problems may lead to much contention and
disputation. The decisions of the Holy Spirit are essential to determine God's will. At the first church
council, which was held at Jerusalem, there was no small dissension and disputation among them.
After much disputing (some having spoken things which were not in the Spirit), Peter, James, with
Paul, and Barnabas spoke in the Spirit. When the mind of the Spirit was revealed, everyone
acquiesced and submitted to that decision. These were blessed, brought to rest and peace of heart and
mind as the Holy Spirit through these men made known His decisions. They said, "For it seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to us." What seemed good to the Holy Ghost should seem good to
everyone filled with the Holy Ghost. When things do not run smoothly and there are disagreements
and disputations in the church, the people should fall on their knees and pray to the Lord that the
Holy Spirit will pour oil upon the troubled waters, and oil the spiritual machinery so that all friction
will be removed, then also ask Him to direct them in the decisions of the church. He is the greatest
Teacher in directing all the decisions of the church.
VII. He Teaches Spiritual Refinement
"And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward" (I Sam. 16:13).
"And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him. Wherefore when
Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him" (I Sam. 18:14, 15).

The baptism with the Holy Spirit does not merely affect our spirit, but influences our nature,
mind, and body, and greatly affects our conduct. The Holy Spirit touches every faculty of our being.
There are many latent capabilities which lie dormant. He quickens these and develops them. His
touch augments our ability to be useful. The baptism quickens the believer's perception, expands the
sensibilities, purifies the desires, deepens human sympathies. The Holy Spirit helps the human nature
to become its best for God and men. Talents are developed and blessed to their right use, making the
Christian a blessing to others.
The fallen nature leads to self-will and self-gratification, and always seeks to have its own way.
Good behavior is of greater importance than we realize, and the influence of a well-behaved and
courteous person who is kind in spirit is more far-reaching than he apprehends. Such a life and
conduct is pleasing to the Lord, edifying to others, and gratifying to self.
Spirituality and a well-behaved life go together. Good behavior and observance of the rules of
etiquette are not spirituality nor do they in themselves make a person spiritual. but spirituality will
make a person well-behaved, courteous, kind, and refined. The person who may be unlearned, but
is anointed by the Spirit, living under the leadership of the Spirit, Who dictates, checks, inspires,
refines, tenderizes, energizes, and controls that person as he yields himself fully to Him, will, like
the fishermen of Galilee; like Luther, the monk; like John Bunyan; like D. L. Moody; with many
others who became refined, cultured, and courageous, do wonderful deeds and surpass the
world-wise men who accomplish but little and are soon forgotten after they die. Those who have
enjoyed the baptism with the Spirit have become not only spiritual, but heroic, useful, and
successful. These have conferred on others a godly and lasting heritage that has blessed the world.
Without it they would have been but common and died in obscurity. The Holy Spirit is the world's
greatest Teacher, teaching the believers to live holy, pure, beautiful, and inspiring lives.
The Holy Spirit will become more to us if we will let Him, recognize, honor, and depend on Him.
He will become all to us that we allow Him to. He is infinitely qualified to reveal helpful things to
us; to guide us into all the truth; to reveal the things of Christ to us; to bring the words of Christ to
our remembrance; to enable us to impart truth and knowledge to others; to direct us to make the right
decisions in the church; and to wonderfully help us in our prayer lives. He is qualified to teach us
more in a moment than any human teacher can in an entire day. The Holy Spirit does not deal alike
with all people. He deals with us along the line of our calling and in keeping with the special gift He
gives each individual. Let us rely more upon Him as our divine Teacher.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 23
IN THE SPIRIT
"Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" (James
4:5).
The Scriptures do not speak in vain. God says what He means and means what He says, and we
do well to believe all He says. This text seems a little difficult to understand. "The spirit that
dwelleth in us lusteth to envy" is the Holy Spirit. Another version of this text reads, "The Spirit that
dwelleth in us loveth us to jealousy." Still another translation reads, "The Spirit that dwelleth in us,
jealously desires us for His Own." The meaning is, the Holy Spirit jealously desires us for Christ.
The work of the Holy Spirit in the world in this dispensation is to gather out the church, even a
people for the name of Christ. The "people for his name" is the church which will be united in
marriage to the Lamb, to forever be one with Him and go by His name. The Holy Spirit came on the
day of Pentecost, which was the birthday of the church, and became incorporated in the church. He
is still in the world and will be until the church is completed, then He will take the church and go
to meet Christ in the air. His work now is to convict, woo, regenerate, sanctify, empower, lead,
gather out, and eventually rapture the church.
I. Convicted by the Spirit
Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. No preacher can convict sinners of their sins. A
preacher may convince people if he preaches the truth, but convincement is not conviction. The Holy
Spirit may be likened to a holy policeman who apprehends, arrests, and convicts the sinner. He is
faithful in convicting the sinner and His method of operation in conviction is to work in co-operation
with the preaching of the gospel. Conviction is not a pleasant feeling or experience, but it is the
greatest blessing that can come to any sinner. When the sinner surrenders and yields to the conviction
of the Spirit, he is led to salvation and great blessings. Before the Lord can bless sinners, He must
first, as it were, unbless them. When a sinner is convicted, the Spirit is seeking to lead him to
repentance and to Christ. Conviction is not a thing to trifle with, fight, resent, or to slough off; but
rather, the sinner should thank God for it, allow it to take hold of him, and lay hold on it, for that is
God's method of dealing with the sinner. Conviction will make the sinner feel lost, miserable,
undone, afraid to live, afraid to die, and brings a fear of God, hell, and the judgment. There is hope
and salvation when he surrenders to the Spirit. Conviction of the Spirit will lead to contrition for sin.
A godly sorrow is very essential in true repentance. A godly sorrow is more than being sorry because
of natural consequences of sin, or that one has been discovered to be a sinner. True repentance is a
sorrow produced by the Spirit, that we are sorry to God because we have sinned against Him and that
we are lost. The Hebrew word "repent" in the Old Testament means to pant, to sigh, to groan, to
lament, and to grieve about one's doing. It is a sorrow that brings an abhorrence of sin, a change of
mind and of purpose, so that he no longer will indulge in sinning.

A sinner attended a revival meeting several years ago and was deeply convicted by the Spirit. This
man did not yield to the Lord; that revival closed a little prematurely, and the evangelist left.
Conviction did not leave this man and he became so miserable he could not rest, eat, or sleep. He
went to a physician in his town and tried to explain how he felt. The doctor examined the man by
listening to his heart, feeling his pulse, and taking his temperature, but could not find any symptom
for which he could make a prescription. He confessed, "I do not find anything wrong with you."
The man said, "Doctor, I need help. I am restless, and have lost my appetite. Is there not some
kind of tonic you may prescribe for me?"
The doctor made a second examination and again did not find any symptoms for which he could
make a prescription. After considering some time what prescription to make he finally said, "I do not
know what is the matter with you unless you have been in a revival meeting and are under
conviction."
The sinner then confessed that that was so, that he had been attending a revival meeting and had
been wrought upon by the ministry.
The physician gave the following advice to him, "Go back to the revival meeting and when the
altar call is given, go to the mourner's bench and repent of your sins, then you will be all right."
The man said, "The revival meeting has closed and the evangelist is gone."
The doctor replied, "Find another one somewhere in the country and by all means get right with
God."
God, Who works at both ends of the line, began to move upon the heart of the evangelist and led
him back to continue the revival a little longer. He obeyed the Lord and started the revival again, and
this sinner man attended and got right with the Lord. Then he was all right. All three men involved
were personally known by the author, who concluded that this doctor made the best examination and
discovery that any doctor of medicine could make, and also gave the best prescription that any
physician could make in which no doctor of divinity could surpass him.
II. Born of the Spirit
The new birth is an absolute necessity, for a man born but once will die twice, and a man born
twice, will if faithful die but once and not at all if he is alive and ready when Christ returns. The new
birth is produced by the Spirit. There are many Scriptures which teach the way to God and salvation.
Christ said, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). If this condition is met,
the sinner will not perish, but obtain everlasting life. Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). This promise will also become operative if the
condition is met. Paul wrote to the Romans as follows: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved" (Rom. 10:9). In Ephesians 2:8, we read how we are saved: "For by grace are ye saved through

faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." If the sinner will meet the condition of I John
1:9, that is, confess his sins, God is faithful and just to forgive him. The Spirit is faithful and knows
at what instant all conditions are met and when faith is exercised. At that very instant He produces
the new birth.
III. Filled with the Spirit
The person who has been born of the Spirit is a candidate to be baptized with the Spirit. We must
be born of the Spirit before we can be filled with the Spirit. The sinner has no capacity to be filled
with the Spirit. There must be a new birth of the Spirit before there can be a baptism with the Spirit.
A twofold work of grace is wrought in the baptism with the Spirit, even that of a cleansing and an
enduement, or the reception of purity and power. To be filled with the Spirit is nothing less than to
be possessed with the Spirit. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that they might be sanctified wholly,
that is, through and through, and that in spirit, soul, and body they might be preserved blameless to
the coming of the Lord. To be possessed by the Spirit means that our body becomes His temple
which He indwells. Our entire being is to be yielded to His control, that He may love through our
heart, shine through our face, speak through our tongue, work through our hands, and walk through
our feet. Our all is to be completely and eternally consecrated to be at His disposal. Truly there is
more involved in being filled with the Spirit than most people realize.
IV. Living in the Spirit
We are commanded to live in the Spirit. We cannot live in the Spirit until we have been filled
with the Spirit. Paul says, "Ye are ... in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." To
live in the Spirit is nothing less than the Spirit living in us, and if the Spirit is not dwelling in us,
neither can we live in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit also means that the Spirit employs our very
being and the life that we live is energized by the power of the Spirit.
V. Walking in the Spirit
We read, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). Living in the Spirit
is very good, but it is not going far enough with the Lord. Walking indicates growth and progress.
We cannot remain stationary in Christian experience. There must be a progress and an advancement
in the things of God. Walking is one of the best exercises any person can take. It will stimulate
circulation of the blood, rest the mind, and invigorate the entire being. Walking involves the entire
body and the entire body must co-operate when walking. To walk in the Spirit is the Spirit walking
in us. As He moves and leads, and we obey and follow, there will be a progress, a development in
the Christian life.
VI. Working in the Spirit
Working in the Spirit involves all lines of Christian activities. Working in the Spirit is nothing
short of the Spirit working in and through the believer. When our labors are only of self and for self,
and the Spirit is not in them, they are in vain. These labors fall short of glorifying God. Man is
limited and helpless and cannot do anything apart from the divine power of the Holy Spirit. It seems

to be the disposition of every man and church to work, or do. Seven times, in the seven letters to the
seven churches the Lord said, "I know thy works." The trouble with most churches and people is not
their lack of doing that God has sufficient money, and impresses still others to pray, that if all would
obey Him, there would be enough evangelists, missionaries, and funds to evangelize the entire world
in every generation. Many claim to be filled with the Spirit and that they are on their way to heaven,
but they co-operate so little with the Spirit that very little, or nothing is accomplished through their
individual lives in the evangelization of the world.
Some years ago a young man fell in love with a young lady with whom he kept company. He was
a student and pursued a college course. She remained at home. They loved each other and were
faithful to each other. After he was through college, he pursued his studies in a university. When he
was graduated from the university, he went abroad to learn more. During his absence they
corresponded with each other and when he was through, he returned and they were married. Their
lives were not happy. During the years of his study course, his plans, visions, and ambitions were
enlarged, but her vision had remained stationary. There came a breach between them because she
could not enter into his life, his plans, and visions. She could see no farther than the line fence, the
yard about their house, and the furniture in the house. He died because of grief. Let us not grieve the
Spirit by being indifferent to His plans, by being nearsighted, by being slack in going, giving, and
praying. May we be fully yielded to Him and co-operate with Him.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 24
OFFENSES AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
We read of the anger of God and of the wrath of the Lamb, but we never read of the anger of the
Holy Spirit. The Spirit possesses every attribute of Deity; therefore, He is infinite in His love. His
love is very great. It is not His office to express anger, for He acts for and in behalf of the Father and
the Son. He is gentle, possessing comforting, wooing, and drawing powers, and for this reason He
is easily grieved when His offers are rejected.
I. Grieving the Holy Spirit
"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph.
4:30).
The Holy Spirit as a Person has the capacity for joy and sorrow. We may bring joy or sorrow to
Him. Grieving means causing grief or distress, sorrow, or sadness. The above text should be
considered in the light of the context. The things which are mentioned in the context are sinful anger,
giving place to the devil, theft, indolence, corrupt communications, bitterness, wrath, evil speaking,
and malice. These are some of the things which grieve Him.
The following things also grieve the Holy Spirit: indifference to His wooings when He is seeking
to draw us into the deep spiritual things; indifference in our attitude toward carnality; indifference
in our love toward Christ; indifference toward a practical holy life; indifference toward evangelizing
the world; indifference toward spirituality and the heavenly realities; spiritual nearsightedness; doing
things which are inconsistent to holiness, or anything that is unChristlike. Many dishonor Him by
not receiving Him into their hearts in His sanctifying and witnessing power.
The Spirit is grieved when we treat Him as a mere impersonal force, or by speaking of Him as
"it." Those who speak of Him as an "it" generally think of Him as such. The Spirit is grieved when
we regard Him as a mere creature, and not as God. He also is grieved by an orthodoxy without any
spirituality. He's grieved when there is the employment of substitutes to revive the work of the
church, to create interest, or to increase attendance by such as the following means: ice cream
festivals, penny 'uppers, chicken dinners, lawn parties, picnics, oyster suppers, operatic music, club
drama, yard games, lotteries, card parties, and other like activities. None of these things can take the
place of the operations of the Spirit. When these are substituted for Him and His workings, He is
greatly grieved. What is needed is a humbling of self before God; a separation from worldliness, then
the seeking of an outpouring of the Spirit upon the church. The more a church relies on substitutes,
the more the Spirit will be grieved and withdraw His operations. Those who have not recognized or
received Him are those who are inclined to depend on substitutes for His Person and power.

II. Quenching the Holy Spirit
"Quench not the Spirit" (I Thess. 5:19).
This Scripture is addressed to Christians. The word "quench" means to put out a fire by water, or
by smothering it. Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. He is represented as a fire because of His
illuminating, penetrating, refining, enlightening, and enlivening character and ministry. The baptism
of Christ is mentioned as being with the Holy Spirit and fire. The word "quench," as used each time
in the New Testament, expresses the thought of putting out a fire. We read, "Smoking flax shall he
not quench," "Where the fire is not quenched," "Quench all the fiery darts of the wicked," and
"Quenched the violence of fire." The Holy Spirit may be quenched along different lines. One way
is by failing to add fuel to the fire. The way to add spiritual fuel to the fire which bums on the altar
of our hearts is by reading the Word of God, meditation, prayer, taking time to be holy, and by
Christian activities. He may be quenched by suppression, that is, by turning the damper on His
operations and failing to open the spiritual draft, or by failing to stir up the heavenly fire. The Spirit
may also be quenched by failing to recognize His operations in others, or by despising others who
are under the influence of the Spirit.
III. Resisting the Holy Spirit
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your
fathers did, so do ye" (Acts 7:51).
Resisting the Holy Spirit means to resent His doings, to oppose and hate righteousness, and set
self in array against Him. While Christ lived and labored among men, He was resisted, rejected,
despised, hated, and not accepted. The Holy Spirit has come into the world, and He too, empowers,
blesses, and helps all people who accept Him. As people rejected Christ while He was on earth, in
the same manner many reject the Spirit while He is in the world, and those through whom He works.
This is resisting Him.
IV. Undervaluing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
"Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy
Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift
of God may be purchased with money" (Acts 8:19, 20).
The spiritual and heavenly gifts should be valued more highly and desired more than material and
earthly possessions. When people value the material, present, physical, and the natural things more
than they do the spiritual and heavenly things, the Spirit is greatly grieved. The Spirit was greatly
grieved with Esau because he sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage. The Spirit could not
forget the act of Esau, who did not value highly the birthright, the Abrahamic blessings, and the
promises which God had made to Abraham. Two thousand years later He made mention of this fact
and called him profane. This profanity consisted of placing a higher value on the present things than
on the eternal things, on the natural things than on

The above Scripture has puzzled many. In the first place, it was written to the Hebrew Christians
who had been converted through faith in Christ and the gospel, but were tempted to give up
Christianity and lapse into Judaism under the pressure of the Judaizing teachers who threatened to
excommunicate them if they continued being loyal to Christ. It was through Christ, Who was
crucified, and Who fulfilled their ceremonial law, and through the work of the Holy Ghost that they
became partakers of the gift of eternal life. The writer to the Hebrews informs them if they give up
Christ and lapse into Judaism with its sacrifices and ceremonies (which prefigured the crucifixion
of Christ), they would be guilty of crucifying the Son of God afresh. By giving up salvation and
Christianity which had been given to them by virtue of the death of Christ, would bespeak that
whatever they take up when they give up Christ is worth more to them than He. The contemplation
of going back into Judaism, which then was of no value in getting saved was trifling with the Holy
Ghost.
VI. Despite Done to the Holy Spirit
"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under
foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an
unholy thing, and bath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:29).
Despite is an act of insult, of malice, and contempt. Despite means to put aside. The sinner who
is under conviction and does not yield to the Spirit, but ignores His wooings, or who takes himself
away from His influence, or stays away from a revival meeting purposely to dodge the conviction
wrought by the Spirit, is doing despite to Him. The sinner can only be saved on the ground of the
shed blood of Christ. It is through His death that he obtains eternal life. All who backslide and
renounce Christ and Christianity trample the blood of Christ under their feet and count the work
which has been wrought by the Spirit in regeneration as null, as void, or as of no consequence, and
Christ's death as though it had not amounted to anything. This greatly grieves the Spirit and does
despite to Him. Those who say "No" to Him too often may so grieve Him that He will never again
strive with them.
VII. Blaspheming Against the Holy Spirit
"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word
against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost,
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matt. 12:31, 32).
Blasphemy means defamatory or injurious speaking against the Holy Ghost. The Pharisees were
guilty of committing blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Their sin consisted of ascribing to Satan that
which the Holy Ghost wrought through the Son of Man. Christ is the Saviour and the only way of
salvation. The miracles which He wrought to prove His Person and claims were not so much the
employment of His own Deity, but rather the employment of the Deity of the Holy Spirit Who
enabled Him as a Man to perform them. When the Pharisees said that He cast out devils by
Beelzebub, the prince of devils, they ascribed the power of the Holy Ghost to Satan. This was
absolute perversion of the truth and a complete reversal of righteousness which in their belief

ought Christ down to the depth of Satan for whom there is no forgiveness, and defamed the power
of the Holy Ghost as being satanic. Christ as such could not save anyone; therefore, they were bound
by an eternal sin because there is no other way of salvation. Conversion is wrought by the Holy
Ghost, Who through the atoning merits of Christ regenerates the person who exercises an evangelical
faith in the Saviour. The sin of the Pharisees was fatal to themselves and serious in its effect on those
who heard them. They uttered their statements from a deliberate choice which they made in taking
their stand with Satan against Christ.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 25
THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE AGE TO COME
It is a misconception that only God worked in creation; that the Son only works in redemption,
and only the Holy Spirit works in relation to salvation. It also is a misconception that only the Father
worked throughout the Old Testament period, and the Son in the New Testament period as recorded
in the four Gospels, and that now only the Holy Spirit works in this dispensation. In every
manifestation of the work of God, whether in creation, redemption, salvation, glorification or the
ages to come, each Person of the Trinity alike has been and will be actively engaged.
The Millennium, that is, the succeeding age will greatly concern Christ, His return and reign; the
glorified church with her relation and position at the side of Christ; Israel and her redemption and
restoration; the Gentile nations and their conversion; the animal kingdom and its restoration to
Edenic conditions; the vegetable kingdom, and also the mineral kingdom. The benefits of redemption
will be enjoyed greatly, from man, down to the ground. The Holy Spirit will be the Dispenser of
these blessings.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit will not cease with the ending of this age. He, with the Father and
the Son, will perform an active part in the age which is to come. As He has worked in harmony with
the Father and the Son in the past, even so He will in the future. As the Spirit has labored in harmony
with the Son and the Father in the creation of the world, in the creation of man, in the
accomplishment of redemption, and in the gathering of the church, so in the future, He will take an
active part in relation to the rapture and glorification of the church, in the redemption of Israel as a
nation, in the conversion of the Gentile nations, and in the regeneration of the lower creation, which
includes the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms.
It was essential that the church age be preceded by Pentecost, even the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit to become the birthday of the church, to qualify men to preach, and to evangelize. This
outpouring of the Spirit must be continued throughout this entire age, even until the body of Christ
will be completed. There will also be the need for a great outpouring of the Spirit to prepare the
world for the Millennium, and this outpouring will need to continue throughout the entire age of the
reign of Christ. Such an outpouring of the Spirit will take place, for it is prophesied in the Old
Testament. The great outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost was but a partial fulfillment of the
prophecy which Joel prophesied. In answering the question of the people, "What meaneth this?"
Peter stood up and said, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." He did not say "it
fulfilled that which was prophesied by the prophet Joel." Several Old Testament prophecies have a
near and a far fulfillment. These are called telescopic prophecies. The Old Testament prophets saw
the first and the second comings of Christ blended, even as one coming. Between the two comings
of Christ comes the church age, and when the church is completed and caught out the Lord again will
deal with Israel and inaugurate His earthly reign. Immediately before His coming to set up His throne
on earth, there will be a period of tribulation such as the world has never known. Joel saw this time

of trouble when he prophesied, "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire,
and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great
and the terrible day of the Lord come." This was not fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, neither was
that terrible day of the Lord. Then Joel saw the outpouring of the Spirit which shall come to pass
immediately after the terrible day of the Lord. He wrote, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that
I will pour put my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old
men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the
handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit (Joel 2:28, 29). On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit
was poured out on regenerated humanity which benefited the saved people. The unsaved people were
to be benefited by being enlightened and convicted of sin through the lives and labors of Spirit-filled
men. This should lead them to repentance and to a Spirit-filled life and ministry. This outpouring is
being continued through this age, causing sons and daughters to prophesy, old men to dream dreams,
young men to see visions, and even servants to enjoy this outpouring. The great and complete
fulfillment of Joel's prophecy will benefit "all flesh." The "all flesh" here is not to be restricted
merely to humanity, but will greatly affect and benefit all types of flesh, which includes the animals,
the fowls, and fishes. Paul said, "All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men,
another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds" (I Cor. 15:39). Such an outpouring
of the Spirit will be necessary to cause the entire world of men, animals, vegetation and minerals to
share the blessings of redemption under the Millennial reign of Christ.
I. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Glorious King
The Millennium will greatly concern Christ. There can be no true peace apart from the Prince of
Peace. Christ, in God's appointed time will become King over all the earth. The Millennium has been
designated as the "Kingdom Age," and also the "Kingdom of Heaven." The literal kingdom of
heaven cannot come without the literal coming of the King from heaven. The kingdom will be given
to Christ by the Father. When the King will come from heaven, He will set up His kingdom on this
earth. The Millennium will be a necessity. The first Adam and his bride failed as world rulers, but
God will not fail in accomplishing His purposes. He will, through the Second Adam and His bride,
accomplish His purposes in relation to the ages to come, which were known to Him from the
beginning. God will show to Satan and all men that He can produce a Man Who can defeat him,
redeem man and his forfeited inheritance, and through Him rule the world with justice, equity, peace,
and righteousness. The ministry of Christ began after His baptism by John and His anointing by the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was given to Him without measure to qualify Him as a Man to defeat
Satan, to perform a perfect ministry, and die a vicarious death, then to be resurrected and carried
back into heaven, where He awaits the fullness of time when He shall return, and as Man shoulder
the governments and inaugurate a righteous rule. In Isaiah eleven (which is a Messianic and
Millennial chapter), the prophet Isaiah, in vision witnessed the Spirit coming upon Christ in His
sevenfold fullness to qualify Him for His ministry in both His first and second comings. This
prophecy reads, "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the
sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge
the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod
of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the

girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins" (Isaiah 11:2-5). Here is a prophecy in
which are blended both the first and the second comings of Christ. The sevenfold fullness of the
Spirit was given to Him. The Spirit of the Lord, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might,
of knowledge, and of fear, suggest the great work of the Spirit in the Messiah. The Spirit was to rest
on Christ, that is, abide in Him and anoint Him as a Man to perform His ministry of redemption and
to reign gloriously over the earth. Christ was born a Saviour and King. He died as a Saviour and will
reign as a King. Christ, as a Man, is a direct descendant of David and holds the legal rights to the
throne of David. In Isaiah 42:1, the Father, in speaking through the prophet, calls attention to His
Son, Whom He calls, "My Servant," and "Mine Elect," in the following words, "Behold my servant,
whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him." Here is
another prophecy which foretold the coming of the Spirit upon Christ. In Isaiah 61:1-4, there is
another beautiful prophecy in which the Second Person of the Trinity, or the ex-carnate Word spoke
(through Isaiah) in the first person concerning the anointing of the Spirit upon Him, which would
qualify Him for His ministry, which embraces both His first coming and also His second coming.
This prophecy reads, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me
to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord, [and here at this comma is where Christ stopped reading when He read
in the synagogue one sabbath as the book of Isaiah was handed to Him. Christ said this Scripture is
fulfilled in your hearing this day. This prophecy refers to the first coming of Christ. He could not
have read on and said, 'It is fulfilled,' for the prophecy, beginning from the comma, where He ceased
reading, refers to His second coming. When Christ comes again He will begin just where He left off
at this comma which reads], and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. And they shall build the old
wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the
desolations of many generations." The Spirit will enable Christ, as a Man, to perform this ministry
prophesied, even as the Spirit enabled Him to perform His ministry in relation to His first coming.
The thought here is not that Christ must receive another anointing with the Spirit. In the Old
Testament, the prophets, priests, and kings were anointed for their office and ministry. There is no
revelation given that Christ requires three anointings, that is, one anointing as prophet, when He was
baptized by John, then a second anointing, when He ascended to become our Great High Priest, and
a third anointing, when He will take over the kingdom as King. Evidently the anointing He received
gave Him a threefold benefit, qualifying Him as Prophet, Priest, and King. That anointing will hold
good in relation to Him when He will return as the Son of Man to become King of kings and Ruler
over all the earth.
II. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Glorified Church
Christ said, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you forever" (John 14:16). The apostle Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, said, "In whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" (Eph. 1:13, 14). In this life we are
sealed by the Spirit. This sealing, which comes with the baptism with the Spirit, is called "the

earnest" of our inheritance. The "earnest" is the "down payment," or the first installment of our
inheritance. In II Cor. 1:22, we read, "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit
in our hearts," and in II Cor. 5:5, "Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who
also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." The benefit of His coming on us for this age is
great. The "earnest of our inheritance," is an installment, or down payment of a work wrought in our
hearts. In the next age and life we will receive the full inheritance, even more payments or
installments, a part of which will affect the body. Paul wrote that when our earthly house would
become dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands. The saints will receive
a new body and a new dwelling place. We also read of the firstfruits of the Spirit in the following
words, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:22, 23). The
resurrection and glorification of the body will be wrought by the power of the Spirit. Some of the
attributes of the resurrected body are given by Paul, which are glory, incorruption, power, a spiritual
body, and immortality, which means deathlessness. The body will possess glorified hands and feet;
eyes, which evidently will be both microscopic and telescopic; the ears will be glorified, which will
make them more wonderful than all radio receiving instruments; the mind and the voice will be
glorified. The physical life now is in the blood and the blood is the motive power in the body. In the
next life this will give way and evidently the Holy Spirit will be the motive power in our bodies,
which will become spiritual bodies with the ability to transport themselves at will as fast as the mind
can operate. The bodies of the saints will become adapted to dwell with God in heaven. In this age,
we enjoy the firstfruits of the Spirit, but in the next age we shall enjoy the full harvest. In this age,
we enjoy a measure of the Spirit's power in our hearts; but in the next age, we shall enjoy in a fuller
manner the operations of the Spirit in us because our bodies and minds will be glorified; therefore,
we will have a greater capacity and ability to enjoy His operations. In this age, we enjoy the earnest
or the down payment, but in the next age we shall enjoy the full inheritance. In this age, we enjoy
some gift which qualifies us for our calling and the service we are called to perform, but in the next
age, we shall realize greater gifts bestowed by the Spirit, which will qualify us to rule and reign with
Christ and to perform a glorified and heavenly service.
The Holy Spirit in this age is the "Spirit of grace" (See Heb. 10:29). He is the Administrator of
grace. The Holy Spirit also is the "Spirit of glory." Grace is what the believer needs in this age, then
glory will be given in the next age. Peter wrote, "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you"
(I Pet. 4:13, 14). The Holy Spirit not only is glorious, but He will impart glory to us (Rom. 8:15-18).
The Spirit must impart grace before He can impart glory. Grace culminates in glory.
III. The Holy Spirit in Relation to Israel
The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. God will not change His mind in relation
to the gifts which He has promised, nor the call which He has given to Israel. When "the fulness of
the Gentiles be come in," then the blindness of Israel will be removed and all Israel shall be saved
(Rom. 11:25, 26). James, at the first church council which was held at Jerusalem gave an outline of
God's prophetic program in these words: "Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared

how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this
agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the
tabernacle of David which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it
up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is
called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the
beginning of the world" (Acts 15 :13-18). Here we learn what God's prophetic program is. The Jews
as a nation have rejected Christ; therefore, He does not deal with them now as a nation, but is
gathering out a people for the name of Christ from among all nations. When the church is completed
and gathered out He will again deal with Israel, redeem, regather, and restore her to her own country,
then great and national blessings will come to all the Gentiles. God's methods of accomplishing all
He has promised for Israel will be through the operations of the Holy Spirit and Christ. God's
dealings with Israel have been national. He redeemed them out of Egypt as a as a nation. He gave
to them feasts which were to be observed nationally, and when they failed, their government was
taken away from them as a nation. In the future, He will deal with them as a nation, or as we read,
"And so all Israel shall be saved." Israel is to experience a national conversion, a national rebirth.
This new birth is prophesied in Isaiah 66:7, 8, and in Ezekiel 36:26, 27. Israel's conviction will be
wrought by the Holy Spirit, then it will come to pass that the Lord will wash away the filth of the
daughters of Zion and purge the blood of Jerusalem by the "Spirit of judgment" (conviction) and
"Spirit of burning" which signifies the Spirit's searching, refining, dross-consuming, illuminating,
and energizing work. Zechariah says, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son ... In that day shall
there be a great mourning in Jerusalem ... And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family
of the house of David ... the family of the house of Nathan ... the family of the house of Levi ... the
family of the house of Shimei ... all the families that remain" (Zech. 12:10-14). Malachi gives us a
picture of the refining process of the Holy Spirit refining the sons of Levi: "And he shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (Mal. 3:3).
The conversion of Israel as a nation will be wrought individually as well as nationally by the Holy
Spirit. When Christ said to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again," He did not only mean individual
Gentiles, but especially Israel as a nation. The new birth, as we learn from the third chapter of John,
is wrought by the Spirit and the Word of God. Jeremiah wrote, "But this shall be the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God and they shall be my people" (Jer.
31:33) The Lord, through Ezekiel, gave a very clear picture of the conversion of Israel when he said,
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you
into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your
filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you
an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye
shall keep my judgments, and do them" (Ezek. 36:24-27). Evidently Christ had this Scripture in mind
when He reproved Nicodemus for not having known the truth concerning the new birth. In Ezekiel's
vision of the dry bones, there is a revelation given of Judah and Israel being reunited, and a
restoration which will be both national and spiritual. It was through the prophesying of Ezekiel and

the blowing of the wind upon those bones which caused them to come together, to acquire sinews
and flesh, and breath to enter into them. The prophesying and the wind represent the preaching of
the Word and the operation of the Spirit. These two elements are essential in the production of the
new birth.
Israel also will enjoy an outpouring of the Spirit which was prophesied in Joel 2:28, 29. Isaiah
also saw the outpouring of the Spirit upon Israel which he expresses in these words, "Many days and
years shall ye be troubled... until the spirit be poured upon us from on high" (Isa. 32:10-15); "For I
will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon
thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring" (Isa. 44:3).
After the Spirit will have administered grace to Israel, He will also administer glory. Israel's glory
departed from their temple. First, it left the most holy place (Ezek. 8:4), then it withdrew to the
threshold (Ezek. 9:3), then it moved above the threshold (Ezek. 10:1, 4), from here it went to the
eastern gate (Ezek. 10:18, 19), thence to the Mount of Olives, whence it went up into heaven (Ezek.
11:23). This glory will return suddenly and abide with Israel (Ezek. 43:2).
IV. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Nations
The Lord has designed to bless all families and nations of the earth. The Lord told Abraham, "In
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3); "And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). The secret for national blessings coming to the nations is for the
Lord to return, put an end to the times of the Gentiles and redeem Israel. Then redeemed, regathered,
and restored Israel will be the key for national blessings to come to the Gentile nations. The
argument in Romans 11:11-15, is that great blessings came to the Gentiles through the fall of Israel,
but that far greater blessings will come to the Gentiles through Israel's redemption and fullness which
will not merely be individual, but also national. One of the great results of the rebuilding of the
tabernacle of David will be, "that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles,
upon whom my name is called" (Acts 15:17). Then, in a very special manner, all the ends of the earth
will be called on to look to the Saviour to be saved (Isa. 45:22). The prophet Joel says, "And it shall
come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28). The "all flesh"
includes the Gentiles as well as the Jews. The Holy Spirit was poured on Cornelius and his
household, who were Gentiles. In giving an account of this event, Peter declared that "the Holy
Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15). In Acts 2:39, where Peter said, "the
promise is unto you, and to your children" he meant Israel and when he said, "and to all that are afar
oft" it is evident he meant the Gentiles. For Israel, it will be on a far greater scale than it was at
Pentecost, and for the Gentiles, on a greater scale than that of the outpouring of the Spirit on the
house of Cornelius.
V. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Animal Creation
The animal creation was a part of the work of the Lord. They were made good and gentle in their
realm. They served a good purpose in relation to man, and in a measure glorified God. All creation
(man and all that was under him) shared in the curse -- in the fall of man -- in the bitter consequences
of the sin of Adam. Before the fall, all animals were tame and herbivorous. They reverenced and

obeyed Adam. After the fall, they went down with the curse; many became carnivorous and vicious,
and all reverted to a wild state. Since then, instead of reverencing man, they fear and dread man.
Domestication is essential to tame them and to keep them in that state. Everything that shared in the
bitter consequences of the fall, will in due time share the blessed benefits of redemption. Since the
fall, creation has been travailing in pain and will continue to do so until the restoration of all things.
When the sons of God will receive the redemption of their bodies, then all creatures will be delivered
from the bondage of corruption which they have shared because of the fall, and will share the
glorious deliverance with the children of God (Rom. 8:19-23). The great outpouring of the Holy
Spirit will be "upon all flesh." The "all flesh" includes Israel, and Gentiles. At the same time in an
extreme, but not in an unscriptural sense, it will include the brute creation of animals, fish, fowls,
and creeping things. In the restricted sense, the Holy Spirit up to the present time has not fallen
"upon all flesh," but only on humanity. In the future days, in its liberal application, the Spirit will be
poured upon all flesh, which includes the animal kingdom. Paul speaks that "there is one kind of
flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds" (I Cor. 15:39). When
the Spirit is poured on men, they lose their carnal nature. When the Holy Spirit will be poured upon
the animal creation, the animals will experience a regeneration, and obtain a changed nature and the
carnivorous animals will lose their carnivorous nature. Then "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and
a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down
together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the
asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain" (Isa. 11:6-9)
VI. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Vegetable Kingdom
The vegetable kingdom shared in the curse. It became degenerated and the earth brought forth
weeds, thistles, and thorns. Fruits and grains have been diseased, and there is much barrenness and
uncertainty, with many hindering elements to fruitfulness. The vegetable kingdom will be renewed
by the outpouring of the Spirit to prepare the earth for the glorious reign of Christ. The Holy Spirit
is symbolized by wind and breath. God imparted the different forms of life by the Spirit and sustains
them by the Spirit. We read, "The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath
given me life" (Job 33:4). One needs but read Psalm 104, and observe the care which God exercises
over things, animate and inanimate, to see that all are dependent on the Lord and when He hides His
face, all are troubled. In the regeneration of the earth, the vegetable kingdom will share the blessed
results of the redemption Christ accomplished. When the curse will be lifted, then "all the trees of
the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier
shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall
not be cut oft" (Isa. 55:12, 13).
VII. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Mineral Kingdom
The Spirit was active in the creation of the world. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Ps. 33:6). In the original creation, the
Holy Spirit garnished (beautified, embellished) the heavens (Job 26:13). In Genesis 1:2, it was the
Spirit Who brooded over the wreckage and chaos of a devastated world and brought forth light,

order, beauty, and arrangement, making it a habitable place for man. The curse which fell on the
ground because of the sin of Adam has brought ruin to the earth. This earth has gone through many
changes in the past and it will go through many changes in the future. Sin has left its marks on the
earth; however, the physical earth will be prepared for the millennial reign of Christ. In the transition
period of the ages, even the ending of this age with its wreckage and chaos, and the beginning of the
glorious rule of Christ, the Spirit will brood over this sin-cursed earth and again bring forth cosmos
out of chaos. As the Spirit is the active Agent in producing the new birth in a believer, so He will
be the active Agent in the regeneration of a cursed world. "Thou sendest forth thy spirit ... and thou
renewest the face of the earth" (Ps. 104:30). The curse which covers the entire earth like a mourning
shroud, and the veil of sorrow which hangs over all nations will be sloughed off. With this sloughing
of the curse there will go all deadly germs, sickness, diseases, sorrows, tears, and death will be
abated. In connection with this great cleansing, there will be a great feast given by the Lord (Isa.
25:6-8). The ground will be blessed and bring forth her increase. The prophet Isaiah also wrote that
Israel would have to pass through many days and years of a shortage of food and have much sorrow,
"until the spirit be poured upon us from on high," then the wilderness would become a fruitful field
(Isa. 32:10-16). Then the desert shall blossom as a rose and rejoice, and in the wilderness shall water
break out, and streams in the desert (Isa. 35). "For I will pour water upon him that his thirsty, and
floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine
offspring" (Isa. 44:3). Man and the earth are very closely related, and no wonder, for the body of man
is formed of the dust. Both fall and rise together. This fact is remarkably true in relation to Israel and
the land of Palestine. They rise and fall together. When we know what is happening to one, we know
what is happening to the other also. When the people will experience the outpouring of the Spirit,
the land also will enjoy the blessing of the Spirit, which is expressed as the coming of "floods upon
the dry ground." The land that has been promised to Abraham and his seed will experience a
renewing, reviving, revitalizing, refertilizing blessing, and also the entire earth. This will make
possible the abundant production of fruits, grains, and vegetables to feed the many millions which
will be born and live on the earth during the Millennium.
*************************************

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 26
THE ASCENDING SCALE OF THE SPIRIT'S OPERATIONS
The operations of Deity forever and ever roll forward and upward. Deity is without increase or
diminution. However, the operations and revelations of God in relation to man are ever progressive.
In the Bible, time is not only measured by hours, days, weeks, months, and years, but also by ages.
An age is an indefinite period of time in which God deals with the human race along certain lines
for certain purposes, then when those purposes are fulfilled, He will bring it to a close and usher in
another age. In each age, God gives a certain revelation of Himself and His purposes to men. In
studying the history of the human race and the prophecies given in the Bible, we learn that every
succeeding age since the fall of Adam, an added revelation of God has been given with an advanced
development of His purposes. These purposes are the development of a new creation, a race of sons
of God, a new heaven, and a new earth wherein righteousness shall dwell forever. There is an
ascending scale, a divine crescendo in the development of the purposes of God. As we trace the work
of the Holy Spirit through the ages, we learn that it also is on an ascending scale. In each succeeding
age the progress of His operations are revealed to be superior to the preceding age.
I. The Spirit's Ministry Before the Flood
Little is recorded concerning the agency, exertion of power, and influence of the Holy Spirit in
the period from the fall of Adam to the flood. All that we read concerning His works in this age is
included in these words: "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man" (Gen. 6:3).
From these words we learn that the Lord was faithful to men before the flood, and that the Holy
Spirit did strive with them. The antediluvians had sufficient light which was a warning to them and
should have led them to repentance. God did not leave them without light, warning, and conviction.
The Spirit honors the preaching and testimonies of the saints, and through them brings conviction
to sinners. The people before the flood evidently were privileged to go to the gate of the garden of
Eden where they could sacrifice to the Lord. After the expulsion from Eden, it was the duty of Adam
to communicate to his descendants the promise of a coming Redeemer and that through sacrificing
they could be redeemed. His testimony was a living witness to all his descendants through the entire
period of his life. He lived nine hundred thirty years then died. Then God called a prophet and
preacher, Enoch, who was faithful in warning the people of coming judgment. God revealed to
Enoch when Methuselah was born that the life of that child would be the length of life for all men
and that when he died, judgment would come. The English for Methuselah is "when he is dead it
shall be sent." The longsuffering of God was revealed in that He allowed Methuselah to live nine
hundred sixty-nine years. His presence among the people even without any message was a warning
to all. Then God called Noah to become a preacher of righteousness, and to build the ark for the
saving of his own household. All of these things were light to that generation. The Spirit made use
of these ministries so that all were without excuse.

II. The Spirit's Ministry in the Old Testament
The operations of the Holy Spirit were much greater during this period than in the antediluvian
age. He came on individuals like Bezaleel and Aholiab and endued them with wisdom and skill for
cunning workmanship. He clothed priests with holiness, gave visions to the prophets, power to the
judges, courage, wisdom, and power to kings and leaders; and holy men were given inspiration to
write Holy Writ. The Spirit came on individual men for special service and when that service was
performed, He departed, then they were but common again.
III. The Spirit's Ministry in the Pre-gospel Period
In the preparatory period of the coming of Christ and the giving of the gospel, the ministry of the
Spirit became very prominent. When the angel appeared to Mary, announcing the birth of Christ,
Gabriel said the birth of Christ would be made possible and a reality by the Holy Ghost. When Mary
visited her cousin Elisabeth, who at that time had been in the way of motherhood six months,
Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and rejoiced greatly, and the unborn child (John) also
shared that outpouring of the Spirit, and he too, had a shouting spell, for he was filled with the Spirit
in a prenatal state. After the birth of John the Baptist Zacharias also experienced a blessed infilling
with the Spirit, which gave expression in rejoicings and prophetic utterances. Another devout saint
lived at this time by the name of Simeon. The Holy Ghost was upon him. It was revealed to him by
the Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen Christ. By the intuition of the Spirit, he
came into the temple, and there he saw, and even held in his arms the Saviour Whom he had already
received into his heart.
IV. The Spirit's Ministry in Jesus
Christ prayed after His baptism by John. In answer to His prayer, the heavens opened and the Holy
Spirit removed from the heavens in His Person, coming on Christ evidently in all of His Deity,
essence, personality, power, graces, and gifts. Never before had anything like this taken place. In the
Old Testament there was a foreshadowing of this glorious event which is one of the illustrious types.
This was the anointing of Aaron by Moses who poured the holy anointing oil without measure on
his head. This qualified Aaron for the office of priesthood. The Holy Spirit was given to Christ
without measure (John 3:34). The anointing of Christ with the Spirit qualified Him for the victorious
ministry which He performed, His victorious death, triumphant resurrection, ascension, and
glorification. The consummation of Christ's ministry on earth made possible a greater ministry for
Him in heaven, and a greater ministry for the Spirit, and believers on earth.
V. The Spirit's Ministry Since Pentecost
The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was on a greater scale than anything previously
known. In the Old Testament period, He came on individuals, but on this occasion He came on
people collectively and individually. He became incorporated in the church. We read, "and they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:4). In the former dispensation, He came on people for service
and enduement, but now He came to cleanse, empower, and abide, that is, remain. In this age, the
Spirit's indwelling is for every son of God, even for young men, young maidens, old men and

women, servants and handmaidens. During the ministry of Christ on earth, the Holy Spirit dwelt in
the Son of God and enabled Him as a Man to perform a great ministry, but in this age, the Spirit may
dwell in every son of God throughout the world. The blessings of spiritual showers have been great
throughout this age because of the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in and operating through the
many sons of God in many parts of the earth.
VI. The Spirit's Ministry in the Millennium
We learn that the ministry of the Spirit will have an ascending climax in the Millennium. There
will be not only a filling, but an outpouring and overflowing, and an outflowing of the Spirit. In this
gospel age, by reason of the absence of the Saviour and the presence of the Spirit, there have been
showers of blessing (Acts 2:33), but in the Millennium, there will be the presence of the Saviour, the
glorified church, and also that of the Spirit in a manifold manner. This will account for far superior
blessings being poured out (Acts 3:19-21). In the Millennium, the Spirit's presence and blessing will
be enjoyed universally, individually, collectively, nationally, spiritually, and materially. He will rest
on the glorious King, dwell in the glorified church, dwell in redeemed Israel, rest on the converted
Gentile nations, and on the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. This will be the glorious,
golden, singing, and rejoicing age.
VII. The Spirit's Ministry in Eternity
We know very little concerning the eternal ages to come. The ministry of the Trinity will continue
through eternity. God will rest in a finished redemption and a new creation wherein will dwell
eternal righteousness. There will be positive blessings such as eternal joy and righteousness, joy
without sorrow, life without death, and peace without strife. There will be negative blessings, such
as no tears, no death, no sorrow, no crying, no pain, and no curses. God does not give an entire or
complete revelation of Himself to men at one time. In the first place, this is not God's method, nor
would it be best for men for Him to do so, neither would men be capable of receiving such a full
revelation of God. From the methods of God's operations in the past, we are led to assume that in
the ages to come, God's blessings will be infinitely better than the joys and glories of the
Millennium. We read, "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in
his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:7). From this Scripture, we learn that there will
be a continued revelation of the great riches of His grace. God never recedes, but proceeds, and
succeeds. The Spirit is the Agent through Whom the revelation of God will come to men.
In eternity, the saints are not going to be idle, but will perform a glorified service. The church,
which is the bride, will become the Lamb's wife after the coming of Christ. She also is designated
as the body of Christ and Christ as the Head. When Christ comes, the Head and body will be united
to become the one new man" and the "perfect man" referred to in Ephesians 2:15 and 4:13. The
Lamb's wife will be taken into the unity and partnership of Christ, and as it were, become the fourth
party in the Trinity, but will not attain to the height of the nature and position of Deity. In this present
age, the Head (Christ) works through the body (the church) in the accomplishment of God's purpose.
This is done through the power and operation of the Holy Spirit. The Head plans the work and
accomplishes it through the body. In the eternal ages to come, God will have a plan for each age.
Evidently in keeping with God's methods, He will work through Christ and since the church will be

one with Him, Christ will do it through her, or rather in unity with the body through the power of
the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Spirit will be on an ever-ascending scale in the eternal ages.